James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for those details. My reaction to them is bittersweet, particularly as I was already familiar with many of the projects involved. I welcome that a number of projects are commencing, but parents become enraged when they see statistics of this kind. For example, a new eight-classroom primary school for Naas will be established in 2021. Building the school that was promised in 2014 would have been a start. The diggers are literally going to the college today to prepare the foundations. Sites have to be acquired, planning permission has to be obtained and the tendering and multi-stage design processes have to be gone through, so we could be talking ten years for some of these schools. Parents like those at Scoil Dara are wondering where their children will go to school next September. When this project was announced a few months ago, the reaction was not particularly positive. It would be great if it came true, but prior experience has shown us that, since such projects take so long to deliver, many children will be out of the school system by the time it does.

The Minister mentioned that the Enfield school was due to open in 2020. That it is at such an advanced stage is welcome. If the patronage could be announced between now and Christmas, it would help with appointing a principal, which would then help with some of Scoil Dara's surplus children moving to the Enfield school. That could be done immediately.

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