Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for her reply. I will not get into a row with her today but natural justice should apply here. This school was involved first. I know a previous Minister - not the current Minister - had more interest in co-education schools than the other schools. We have great schools in Westport and the only school that needs to be relocated is Holy Trinity National School. The co-education group has come in since and it seems to be getting priority now. The Holy Trinity school has lobbied and raised funding while working in difficult conditions, and it is not being treated right by the Department.

I have nothing against co-education. In fact, I hope a site is obtained for the co-education school. There are plenty of derelict sites in Westport that could be used for it but I do not see why it should be located on the Holy Trinity school site. I was very much involved in this process. If the Minister knew the trouble her Department and Mayo County Council have caused because neither of them wanted to take over the site. We had to get the Minister at the time and the county council to sit down together and reach an agreement on who would take over the site. The site was always for Holy Trinity National School. The co-education school was not in the picture in regard to that site. The Department brought it into the picture. That decision was taken by a previous Minister. As usual, the real government are the officials who will not put their names on the ballot paper. It is the Minister and I who represent the Holy Trinity National School and the people of Westport and Kerry. We are, therefore, the people who should be making the decisions. I would like the Minister to make the decision that Holy Trinity National School will open on that site as quickly as possible. If the council wishes to break the planning laws, I will deal with that in another forum.

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