Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am glad the Minister cleared that up. I knew the parish community, parish council, parish priest and the bishop had signed off on it. I believe them. Of course I do. One does not get many free sites these days, and the Minister has been given a great gift from the clergy in the parish. He should be grateful for that. I was told several times previously that tenders were at the stage of pre-qualification of contracts for the project. The Minister is hiding behind every kind of an excuse. Now he has acknowledged on the floor of the Dáil that the site has been gifted to the Department, I want to see this project, because of the children - na daoine óga - and because of the parents, the parents' council, both boards of management, several retired parish priests and principals who are patrons there, the whole community - ní neart go chur le chéile, is what we believe in Cathair Dún Iascaigh - all our newcomers, and the people to come. We want a half decent - fully decent - proper, amalgamated national school with 16 rooms and facilities for pupils with special needs. It also has to have safe parking. I must salute An Garda Síochána, the traffic warden, and of course the parents on trying to manage the situation at the school, which is very difficult at peak times. There should be no more roadblocks, fences or blaming anyone else. The Minister should just get the project under way. We hope we can get him down as the tenth Minister to turn the sod. We will all be there and we can have a cup of tea afterwards in Cahir House Hotel. That is a great idea.

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