Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for the reply. I note that in the Minister's reply she says that as part of the post-refusal meeting, factors were pointed out that could be addressed in a new planning application, including pedestrian access. If that had been advised in advance then that would have been addressed because that is not a huge issue. It is something that could be addressed quickly and to have things put back, because of something that is not trivial because pedestrian access is important, but because of something that could have been addressed in advance, is deeply frustrating for the staff.

I wanted to hear a realistic timeframe from the Minister. She is saying the factors can be addressed. Can she commit that some of her officials will work with the school and Fingal County Council to bring this all together? It is a project that is nearly there. To be fair to the staff, parents and students, they thought they had done the heavy lifting on it but now they are here and they find themselves with more work to do. The problem they face is they do not want to be back at the start. If there are factors that can be addressed, how quickly can that be done? Can the Minister ensure that somebody from her Department will proactively work with them to get these issues addressed and over the line? The Minister knows well that the job of a teacher and a school principal is many and varied without adding architecture, along with a little bit of building and minor works, onto it. They are stretched.

I refer to the running repairs that have to be done to the temporary accommodation. Will it be possible to ensure that they can be fast-tracked? A lot of these works are required immediately in order to facilitate the expansion of the school. I appreciate that this was not envisaged because they thought they would be in their new school by now.

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