James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. That information is good and positive. I acknowledge the positives. It is great to see there are so many projects in the pipeline but the problem is that they are in the pipeline and we need to get them delivered. The Minister referred to one that is approaching delivering after a painful, arduous process, long pre-dating her own appointment as a Cabinet Minister. We are glad to see that happening. The Minister taught in Carrigtwohill and is familiar with that community. Back when she was in Carrigtwohill, the population of the village was about 1,400. It is expected that the population of Carrigtwohill could double from its existing size in the next ten to 15 years, which has already seen exponential growth from what it was in the early 2000s and late 1990s. These communities are just not the same as they were, with the original schools that were in place pre-dating the CCC's construction.

We desperately need to see an additional secondary school, perhaps looking at areas such as the greater Midleton area, whether is the east of Midleton, servicing Castlemartyr, Ladysbridge, Dungourney and the community in that area, or potentially looking at an additional school in the Midleton-Carrigtwohill region. That will be needed in the long term. It is all to do with population growth, growth in housing, growth in services, and an area that will, overall, see extraordinary population growth in the next ten years. We need to deal with that.

See this speech in context