Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Labour Party for bringing this important motion forward. Last week I raised the case of Gaelscoil Phádraig, one of the indirect victims of the 58 school delays. They still have not got a firm answer as to when their problem is going to be solved. I think they possibly have the record for delay, which is shocking. The school is in existence 27 years. It was founded in 1995 in a temporary location and moved to its current temporary location with prefabs in the year 2000. It has been there ever since. It was promised in 2007 that they would definitely have their permanent location within a two-year timescale and they have been told that pretty much every two years up until now. I say "indirect" because actually their permanent location exists in Loughlinstown but it is currently occupied by a special school that is waiting for its permanent location, the Ballyowen Meadows building, which is to be built in the Stillorgan area. There has been delay after delay. There are two schools delayed but the biggest victim of this is Gaelscoil Phádraig. The school community and pupils have gone through all the years of their primary education, and three or four generations of young people have gone through the school over 27 years, with all their time in a temporary location. There has been fantastic fortitude by the wonderful staff of the school but it is really outrageous they are waiting that long. They deserve a definitive answer, as does every other school that is anxious about these delays. When I asked the Minister of State last week, he said this was a matter of timing. They know that; it is 27 years of timing. Could they please have a definitive timeline that will ensure they will be in their permanent location by their 30th anniversary?

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