John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Topical Issue matter is to not move the Firhouse Educate Together secondary school to Citywest. We are taking a collegial constituency-wide approach to this and I know the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, would want to be associated with it. Unavoidably, our colleague, Deputy Duffy, cannot make the debate.

I congratulate the Minister on her appointment. As she knows, this is a time of crisis. We have very limited time in the Topical Issue debate. I know many viewers of this debate are interested in what my colleagues have to say. Parents will have received a response from the Minister's private secretary regarding queries today. I want to highlight a number of points there. The response states that the only way Firhouse Educate Together secondary school can stay in the accommodation in Gaelscoil na Giúise is if An Foras Pátrúnachta and the board of management of that Gaelscoil allows this. That clearly is an opening. The letter continues to state that the Department remains in ongoing communication with the patron body.

I tabled a parliamentary question today and will not get a response for a few days. What will be the cost to the Department to relocate the secondary school to Citywest? Surely that money would be better spent in providing whatever additional accommodation is needed for the school on site in the Gaelscoil in Firhouse. As the Minister knows, many of the students have additional needs, but my colleagues will cover these, and we can come back in response when we hear her reply.

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