Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Unfortunately, I did not hear any new information from the Minister of State there. It is true that the school has completely pared back its requirements for temporary accommodation to the point where it is just refurbishing four Portakabins and putting in two new ones. Despite that, there is still no indication that this will be in place for September 2023 when it is needed. The school and parents are getting worried. It is getting to the point where the school may have to reconsider offering parents those places because it cannot guarantee that the building will be in place.

The Minister of State mentioned the special education needs rooms, and there are two of them in the school. They were finalised last October and have been sitting empty since then. The two Portakabins are ready to go and need some sort of certificate finalised, but that has still not happened. The buildings are there and four months later they have not been handed over to the school and opened. The school is understandably very worried about the lack of timelines and actual information as to when these Portakabins will be finished and whether or not they will be in place for August this year.

The Minister of State has also not provided any timelines in relation to the new build. That is of a concern. Four years ago, in 2018, there was a big announcement and all the Government Deputies were out congratulating themselves and patting themselves on the back that this was being done, and there has not been anything done since. In fact, the Department has delayed so long that the school build that was previously designed is no longer going to be suitable. It is looking at increasing the capacity of it. The school and the parents need information. I really hope the Minister of State asks the Minister to start putting things down on paper for them. I know that all the Deputies from Wicklow have written to the Department. We would like to meet with the Department in relation to this because we need to see movement on it.

See this speech in context