Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)

At the outset, I acknowledge the recent school visit. I was invited by the Deputy as well as Deputy Ó Muirí and others. It was important for me to visit the school. I have heard from the Deputies so often of the challenges the school faces but, in particular, how wonderful the school is. It was wonderful to meet with an príomhoide, Eimer Nic an Rí, agus all the staff there and to have an opportunity to speak to them and to see how committed they are not only to the school but to the students. Many of the teachers are from my constituency and travel up and down. I got the full experience with the rain and jumping between prefabs, which I know they have to do on a daily basis. I am absolutely committed to supporting the development of this school, to making sure the students and teachers have the environment they need to be able to do even better and to build on the fantastic work that is already happening there.

As the Deputy will be aware, the programme for Government includes a commitment to expand opportunities for students to attend Gaelscoileanna and Gaelcholáistí. I believe the project to deliver the new 600-pupil building for the school supports this commitment.

As I said, I recently visited the school and saw first hand the importance of this planned building project. I know there have been many challenges along the way to get even to the point at which we are now, including the requirement for a new planning application. The new grant of the planning, which was received in December of 2023, with a number of conditions attached, has progressed and it has meant that we are in a situation where a design team is in place. I confirm my Department's staff is engaging intensively with the design team and with the patron throughout this entire process. My officials will be in contact with the school authority as soon as the design team completes its review. As I said to Deputies Heneghan and Ó Muirí when I visited last week, the intention is very much that come September, we will be able to issue the tender, that that process will start and, hopefully, early next year, we will be able to start putting boots on the ground, turning sods and making sure this building starts to happen.

The project will build on capital expenditure of €405 million, which was invested in Irish-medium schools between 2020 and 2024. I hope this is a strong demonstration of our commitment to Gaelscoileanna and choláistí across the country.

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