Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)

I thank the Minister of State. I will engage with him further on this matter, and in writing, because I am dumbfounded and none the wiser. As the Minister of State was speaking, I checked the website of Waterford City and County Council. Planning permission was finally granted on 7 February 2025. Planning permission is in place. The land is acquired. The application was submitted in good time and there was formal approval. I have seen the correspondence and have shared it with the Minister of State. I will share it again. It is correspondence with the Department. This is simply not satisfactory and I will be taking it further. I will be bringing that documentation to the Minister of State. The school has approval from the Department. I have seen the documentation. The school was told in February, when that planning permission came through, that its representatives would hear from the technical team within six weeks to progress the project. Nine months later, they are none the wiser. Children are still being crammed into partitioned-off parts of a sports hall. It is utterly unsatisfactory.

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