Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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I also extend a very warm fáilte to our friends and guests. They are most welcome.

I recently met with 12-year-old Cara Darmody from Tipperary. I know the Taoiseach also met Cara in July. Cara is an amazing young person who campaigns tirelessly for better autism services for her brothers Neil and John and for so many other children failed by the system. Cara spoke to the Oireachtas committee two weeks ago. She said:

My brothers Neil and John have been treated disgracefully and I am here to stand up for them. I am also here to stand up for the almost 18,000 children who have been left to rot on waiting lists.

Cara’s family has been through a nightmare, fighting to get proper services for her brother, Neil, in particular, an experience her father, Mark, describes as “horrific, humiliating, and inhumane.” Neil is ten years old. In 2016, he was diagnosed as having a mild to moderate autism spectrum disorder. In 2020, with little progress or development, Neil was referred to a HSE child psychiatrist who was adamant that his disability was, in fact, severe. The psychiatrist’s recommendation was that Neil be re-assessed. Despite this recommendation being sent to three separate HSE managers, it was never actioned. Two years on, Neil has still not been re-assessed and has not received the services he needs.

Mark says he was told that Neil will be on a waiting list “indefinitely” but the local children’s disability team refused to put that in writing. No explanation has been given. Mark has made numerous complaints to the HSE but he has been stone-walled and the family is being ignored.

The impact on Neil’s development has been catastrophic. He bites and punches himself all day. The child is non-verbal. He needs to be brought on long drives to calm down. He has to sleep with his parents every night. Mark, his dad, says the lack of intervention has done his son irreparable damage. By contrast, his brother John has shown real progress. John received earlier intervention after the Darmodys paid for him to be assessed privately.

The pressure on this family is immense. Both children need full-time care, which has resulted in the loss of employment for both parents.

Ní hamháin go bhfuil Cara Darmody ag seasamh suas dá deartháir, Neil. Tá sí ag seasamh an fhóid do na mílte páiste atá ar liostaí feithimh míchumais.

Neil’s story is shocking but it is not unique. In fact, I spoke to families in Waterford last night who are in a very similar situations. As Cara said, there are more than 18,000 children on waiting lists just for initial contact with a children’s disability team. Thousands more are going without the services they need. There are 2,500 children whose assessments are overdue. More than a quarter of children’s disability posts are vacant, equating to over 480,000 lost therapy hours. This is a result of a failure to plan and invest in the specialised workforce and in services for children with disabilities.

Cara told the Oireachtas committee: “I am sick of adults who just talk. Why can you all not do something about this and stop the damage being done to children with disabilities?” What Neil urgently requires is a psychometric assessment, as recommended by his consultant psychiatrist. This is necessary to ensure that he is in the right school and that he gets the health and educational services he needs. When will Neil get his assessment?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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First, I did meet with the Darmody family and with Cara some time ago. We had a good, frank and very useful discussion in terms of services for children with additional needs, in particular children with autism. I have been very clear on two fronts as there are two aspects to this, the education dimension and the health dimension. I am not satisfied and not happy with the services provided through the HSE in respect of children with autism. It is not at a scale and level that it should be at. It is not a funding issue as the resources have been allocated. The HSE is saying it is a recruitment issue.

When I came into government, I would have had issues with the progressing disability programme, which has been advanced by the HSE now for over a decade but has really only come into additional resources in the last four to five years. I have met with many disability organisations, both service providers and users, to try to get to the bottom of this progressing disability initiative. My view, which I made very clear, is that progressing disability – the Deputy will know this from her own constituency - took therapists out of the special schools to have a general pool available, diluting the service. We made it very clear that we wanted the therapists back working in the special schools as a first step, and that has been agreed, although we are following through on the implementation of that with the HSE. There has been resistance. There are different perspectives on this but I am very clear that in special schools, the multidisciplinary approach is best. I want the therapists in the special schools.

On the education front, over the last two years we have made rapid progress on education in terms of additional special schools, additional special classes and additional resources. We have more to do. We have also legislatively placed an obligation on every single school in the country to do its bit in respect of special needs, and schools have to be fully inclusive in terms of children with special needs and there can be no refusal of children with special needs regarding access to schools. That is also being worked through by the Minister for Education and there is very clear progress to be seen.

The availability of therapies is not satisfactory. I have spoken to different service providers. I want to be balanced here. In some areas, progressing disability seems to be working because there is a lower catchment or a lower number of children or young people being covered by a given area, and the workload seems to be manageable in respect of some CHO areas. In other areas, the load seems to be excessive. The key issue that the HSE raises is the capacity to recruit. I know that is of no consolation to children and families trying to access services.

If we look across the HSE, it has had far greater success in recruiting therapists for a whole range of other services, such as enhanced community care. Indeed, I was at a stroke unit the other day and there was no issue in recruiting therapists for speech and language, physio and so on. In terms of children and the progressing disability area, there seems to be a particular difficulty in recruiting and, indeed, retaining therapists across the board. That is a key issue. I have convened two meetings so far with all of the Ministers responsible for special needs to deal with this issue.

In the interim, we have to develop more accelerated means in terms of assessments of need, both on the clinical side and the services. In the case of Neil, the individual child here, it is a matter of services. The key issue is recruitment of a sufficient number of therapists to provide not just assessment, but interventions for children who require them on an ongoing basis.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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There is undoubtedly a big problem in recruitment and retention of those therapists and specialists, as the Taoiseach stated. Much of the difficulty is self-inflicted by the Government and the HSE. If they are not prepared to pay and reward people in terms of their take-home pay and their pension entitlements in line with statutory standards, they will have a problem recruiting and holding onto staff.

I asked the Taoiseach about Neil specifically. He has given me a general and global picture. I know how bad it is out there. My God, every family dealing with this knows how deep the nightmare and the quagmire are. I asked him about this ten-year-old child, however. Two years ago, a consultant psychiatrist said the child needs to be reassessed because he is not on the mild spectrum; he is, in fact, profound and severe. He bites himself all day. The household is chaotic. The child needs constant care and is not getting the services he needs but he has not even been reassessed and the HSE is stonewalling the family. That is a fact. I asked the Taoiseach when will Neil get his assessment. I would like an answer to that question, particularly since as the Taoiseach stated, he met the family directly last July.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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In fairness, I am not going to individually get involved in every case that comes before us in respect of services, such as the need for the HSE to provide services to Neil, for example. We will make representations and speak to the HSE in respect of the case but other children also require access to services and assessments. A recent legal case has impacted the model of assessment-----

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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The Government broke the law.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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The Government was breaking the law.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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------that was ongoing at that time by the HSE, which has to be-----

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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The HSE was breaking the law.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----factored into how we deal with that. Suffice to say the resources have been made available in terms of the recruitment of all the clinicians and therapists. It is not about pay and conditions, in my view, in terms of------

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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It is for non-HSE staff.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Sorry, in many instances there are. There has been recruitment but there needs to be far more recruitment of therapists, particularly in respect of special needs, through the HSE. As I said, in education we have made very good progress.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Neil has not had his reassessment.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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This area of access to therapies is a key area where we need far more significant progress than we have had.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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The child has not been reassessed.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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I wish to again raise with the Taoiseach the housing crisis, which is a housing emergency, despite the Government's failure and refusal to declare it as such. In the lead-up to the important Raise the Roof rally on Saturday, which we in the Labour Party will support, along with many others in opposition, I wish to raise the real-world effects of this housing emergency in my constituency.

On Rathmines Road, in Dublin Bay South, tenants in 20 apartments across two houses are facing eviction. Many of them are paying in excess of €1,000 or €1,200 a month for a single-bedroom apartment. Some of them have lived there for more than ten years, while others have been there for 20 years. They are now facing eviction. Despite the Tyrrelstown agreement ruling, which apparently seeks to restrict mass evictions of this nature, the company that owns the property is using what can only be described as a legal loophole in section 35A of the Residential Tenancies Act to take these families' and individuals' homes away from them. Why? Because the company says the sale of the property would drop by 20% of its market value were the tenants kept in place and the landlord would endure undue hardship if that were the case. According to reports, the landlord in this case owns 70 apartments across the city and the most recent figures available show the company owned, in total, more than €20 million of investment property in 2019 - undue hardship indeed. Not too far away from Rathmines, more than 100 residents in Tathony House, Kilmainham, Dublin 8 have been served an eviction notice. Again, the landlord there has invoked section 35A.

We need to secure greater protection for renters in these situations. We need to ensure undue hardship for those who are renting - the families who are going to be put out of their homes as a result of these evictions - is what is prioritised in our laws, not the undue hardship provision for landlords. A home should not be a commodity.

Yesterday, the Taoiseach complained in the House that the Opposition is not providing constructive solutions and proposals to address the housing emergency. That is simply not the case for us in the Labour Party. In recent weeks, my colleague, Senator Rebecca Moynihan, our housing spokesperson, suggested the imposition of an eviction ban, which is now Government policy. We also suggested revising the income thresholds for social housing eligibility. Again, that is now Government policy.We suggested a vacant homes tax. Although it has been watered down, it is welcome to see that it is now Government policy.

This progress is welcome but I will offer two more constructive proposals. First, to protect vulnerable renters such as those in Rathmines and Kilmainham, will the Government take on the Labour Party’s Residential Tenancies (Tenants' Rights) Bill 2021 that we put before this House a year ago and which passed Second Stage without opposition from Government? It would give tenants better protections. Second, as I asked yesterday, will the Government use the term of the winter eviction ban to fund and strengthen the tenantin situscheme? Will it use the opportunity to buy back housing and shrink the private rental sector to ensure greater protections for families and renters who are facing eviction?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very important issue. In her opening remarks, she referred to a refusal to use the word "emergency". I pointed out yesterday to the House that when I was launching Housing for All in September 2021 my precise words were, "but the fact is that the social emergency that is our housing crisis cannot and will not be solved by any one department on its own". We will not get into semantics. Suffice to say that housing is the number one and single most urgent and important social issue facing the country. Access to housing is fundamental to our security, stability, health and progress as a nation. There is scarcely a family in the country untouched by the crisis. That is why Housing for All is a very broadly-based programme.

In terms of rents, we need more supply. We need more supply and we need to build more houses more rapidly to give people greater access to different types of housing, whether that is social housing, affordable housing, cost rental or people purchasing on the private market. We have introduced a rent cap. Since December last year, the maximum by which landlords can increase rents annually in rent pressure zones, RPZs, which now cover a large part of the country, is 2%. We extended all RPZs to the end of 2024. A tenant who has been renting for at least six months now automatically gets security of tenure and can stay in his or her rented property indefinitely, so long as certain conditions apply. We also have the eviction Act, which has delayed and deferred any evictions until 31 March next year. There is a range of protections that have been passed by the House following legislation introduced by the Minister.

In respect of the specific issue raised by the Deputy, there is the Tyrrelstown amendment, which offers some protection. The Government has given local authorities the capacity and resources to purchase and it has communicated to local authorities to purchase tenancies in situor houses where tenants are in situ in respect of HAP. These properties can be bought with the tenants staying in situ.Approximately 600 is my indication of the number that have been purchased or are in the process of being purchased to date.

We need to look at the specific issue and the two cases that have been raised by the Deputy to see if anything further can be done to deal with what she is describing as a loophole. In the framing of the Tyrrelstown amendment, there has to be a balance to make sure we do not get it wrong from a constitutional perspective. That said, our objective and motivation is to protect tenants to the greatest degree possible.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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We can engage in semantic discussion about language, but what the 20% of the country who are now living in private rental accommodation want to see is action on this issue. We in the Labour Party have very much welcomed it when the Government has taken action, albeit belatedly, such as with the winter eviction ban.

However, we do not think this action has been enough. We have called for a three-year freeze on rents, which is a crucial policy that should be brought in by the Government. Caps in rent pressure zones have simply not been sufficient to address the significant increases in rents we saw in yesterday's daft.iereport, notwithstanding that cap. We also want to see greater protection for tenants against mass evictions. I welcome the Taoiseach's comments on that. How can we stand over a provision in section 35A that allows companies such as Hazelwood Walk Holdings Limited, the company at issue in Rathmines, to claim undue hardship? Why is the undue hardship of a property company more important than the undue hardship that tenants, renters and, in many cases, families, face, if they are trying to find new accommodation in the face of an eviction notice? What determines market value and how is it assessed in this scenario? How does the property company know that it will lose 20% of market value? As legislators, how can we stand over legislation that allows them to claim that and put 20 households out of a home, once the winter eviction ban has concluded?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The legislation was well balanced in trying to give additional protections to tenants. In many instances, it has been effective in giving that protection. Much of the legislation we have passed has given protection. Some of the issues the Deputy identified in respect of the individual case are legally challengeable. We will examine that to see if any further actions can be taken to rebalance the legislation. If the legislation is being exploited in a way that is wrong, we will have to deal with that.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Many thousands of people will come out on the streets for the Raise the Roof demonstration because of the failure of the Government to address the absolutely diabolical housing and homelessness crisis. I have brought to the Gallery some of the people for whom this is a life and death matter. Deputy Bacik may not have been aware that some of the residents of Tathony House she referred to are present. The 35 families in Tathony House have done nothing wrong but are facing eviction by a landlord who has had a massive rent roll of approximately €750,000 a year for all the years they have been his tenants. They now face eviction and the possibility of being put out on the street. They are scared and that is why they are here.

Residents from Rathmines Road are also in the Gallery. More than 20 families and individuals there are facing the prospect of eviction on grounds of sale. I have also brought in residents from St. Helen's Court, who have faced four years with the sword of eviction hanging over their necks from two different vulture funds that are trying to mass evict them. This is important in the context of the Tyrrelstown amendment and all the rest of it. Although the residents are still there, they now have an active eviction order against them. Even when they defeated the last three attempts by the landlord to circumvent the Tyrrelstown amendment, the fear, stress and anxiety led many of the tenants to leave. They could not put up with the stress on them and their families. The fear, stress and hardship that these people in the Gallery are suffering is shocking.

Jacqueline is also in the Gallery. She, her husband and her two teenage daughters are being evicted from the home in which they have lived for 55 years. Jacqueline was born in the house. They are a working family but they cannot get a mortgage because they are too old and the bank will not lend them money. They are over the income threshold so they are not entitled to social housing and they face the prospect of the street, unless the Government intervenes. Stella and her two daughters in Bray also face eviction, not only from where Stella lives but, since she is self-employed, from where she does her business. She will not only lose her home but her job. Their situation is best summed up by Jacqueline. She speaks for all of them when she wrote in a letter I will hand to the Taoiseach after this:

My darling, beloved husband will be put into an early grave as he is a broken man. As the dad of the house and as a husband he cannot fix this, This whole situation is affecting both our health. We are a broken family living dark days in fear, Minister. I need you to fix this and I need you to fix this now.

The question from all these people is: will the Government use the €500 million allocated to housing that it has not spent to buy their houses and apartment blocks to prevent these families and individuals from being put into homelessness, and end the suffering, hardship and trauma they and their families are suffering, as are many others?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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As I said in reply to Deputy Bacik, the Government has brought in a range of legal measures to protect tenants insofar as we possibly can. Section 35A of the Residential Tenancies Act, known as the Tyrrelstown amendment, provides that where a landlord proposes to sell ten or more units within a single development at the same time, that sale is subject to the existing tenants remainingin situ, other than in exceptional circumstances. That is what is stated in the legislation. It was a carefully drafted amendment to promote security of tenure in the interests of the common social good. It strikes a balance between the right of landlords to sell their properties and achieve a fair return on their investment and the right of tenants to security of tenure. As Deputy Bacik pointed out, there is an issue with how that is being adjudicated upon, or being progressed or prosecuted, whether it is by landlords or if the matter has been referred to the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB. I am not sure whether the cases the Deputy outlined have been referred to the RTB.

As Deputy Boyd Barrett knows, we brought in the Residential Tenancies Act 2022, which provides for the deferment of termination of certain tenancies to the end of March. We will examine the issues he raised. We have a timeframe within which to do that but a balance has to be struck when stating that the answer to every single situation is the local authority buying out private housing for people who are way above the income eligibility thresholds. Those thresholds have been increased by approximately €5,000 in the interim across all local authorities. That may not cover the situations the Deputy identified but, again, a balance has to be struck there as well. We will examine the individual situations he raised. The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage has engaged on the issue of Tathony House, in particular, and has also worked with the council.

The priority in purchasing homes in situhas been in respect of the housing assistance programme, people who are on the housing assistance payment, HAP, and those renting houses under HAP or, indeed, the rental accommodation scheme. Approximately 600 properties have now been purchased where tenants remain in situ. The issue is that the Deputy is saying we should go higher than those eligibility thresholds. That has to be examined in a comprehensive way. It cannot just apply to every single specific case that arises no matter how difficult it is, and it is very difficult for the people concerned who were identified by the Deputy. That is why we will engage with the tenants and the council in the area to see what can be done in that respect. We will also make sure that we can support the tenants in the affirmation of their rights and entitlements under the Act. From what has been said, maybe the calls being made by the landlords in respect of this Act may not be the correct ones, legally.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I ask the Taoiseach to look those people in the eyes. There has to be a solution. They have done nothing wrong. They paid their rent, they worked and they paid their taxes. The Taoiseach cannot say that there may not be an answer because of this legislative shortcoming or that legislative loophole. If people's incomes, for example, are under €53,000, even according to the Government's schemes, they are in need of some subsidy because that is what the cost-rental threshold is. Every single one of the people I mentioned are below that threshold. There is no reason, with the €500 million that the Government has not spent on housing and that is in its hands, that it could not buy those apartment complexes and houses to prevent people being driven into homelessness. We are spending €213 million on homeless services in the Dublin region alone. The Government can keep spending money on people in desperate emergency accommodation or it could buy those houses and those people would be paying rent to the State. The Government would then save them the suffering, hardship and trauma they are now feeling. I ask the Taoiseach to give them hope. The Government has the money, there is nothing to stop it doing this and it would make life better for people who are really suffering.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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That is what I am asking the Taoiseach to do. Please do it for these people who do not deserve to be put through what they are being put through at the moment.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I again thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I have said that I will engage with the Minister on this.

The Minister said in this House that he engaged with the Deputy about Tathony House. He has engaged with the council on this. We will examine this to see what we can do to help the tenants. Our only interest is helping the tenants in terms of security of tenure. All our legislation has been about security of tenure and trying to provide extra protections. In fact, we have been criticised for that by people on the other side who say this has reduced the number of properties available to rent so restrictive are the measures we have introduced. In this instance, there is a threshold at some stage in terms of where the State gets involved and buys up everything. I am not saying this is what the Deputy is saying here. He referenced specific cases on which we will follow through and see what we can do to help the tenants.

Michael Lowry (Tipperary, Independent)
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Coláiste Mhuire Co-Ed is the only co-educational and multidenominational school in Thurles. It has DEIS status and is the only provider of ASD classes to boys in Thurles. It is experiencing continual pressure to accommodate increasing enrolments since 2010. It has an enrolment of 500 post-primary students, which is an increase of 90% in the past six years. This enrolment does not include post-leaving certificate students. The school has reluctantly suppressed enrolments for the past three years. From 158 applications this coming academic year, the school has only been in a position to accept 120 students.

The Department of Education is incorrectly interpreting the demand for places based on the reduced enrolment by the school rather than the actual demand for places. Following a comprehensive analysis and despite the suppression of numbers, the school has confirmed a projected enrolment of 750 post-primary students.

The current building is 40 years old and is not fit for purpose. The roof is leaking, the school is trying to manage 37 leaks, suspended ceilings are collapsing regularly due to roof leaks and the flooring throughout the building is confirmed as a serious health and safety hazard. The entire building is in poor condition with an outdated and inefficient heating and energy system.

The Department keeps putting forward stopgap temporary solutions. Tipperary Education and Training Board has had ongoing interactions and significant discussions with the planning authority in securing permission for temporary units on the school site. There is grave reluctance on the part of the planning authority to grant permission for additional temporary units to be installed on the site. The planning authority has told it verbally and in writing that it is strongly of the view that the Department should be prioritising the replacement of the existing temporary units rather than installing more of them.

The cost-benefit analysis to rectify the countless design and structural issues clearly indicates that the most cost-effective option is to build a new school. Thankfully, all other schools in Thurles have benefited from significant infrastructural development over the past ten years. Coláiste Mhuire Co-Ed operates in a building constructed in 1981 that presents operational health and safety risks. It abjectly fails to comply with the normal standards of a modern post-primary campus. In a professional report commissioned by the board of management, many elements of the construction are described as having reached the end of their useful life. Any investment through the summer works scheme or an ad hocinvestment is no longer a realistic or viable option. The accommodation needs of the school must be addressed with a new permanent structure.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. The Deputy will recall that about a fortnight ago, he and Deputy Cahill accompanied me to the campus of Mary Immaculate Teacher Training College where we met the students and senior management. Clearly, the indications are that the authorities there would make a site on the campus available for such a new school. Deputies Lowry and Cahill advocated very strongly for that.

Deputy Lowry is aware that the project was approved for the school to provide additional accommodation comprising classrooms, accommodation for students with special educational needs and replacement of prefabs. This project had advanced to architectural planning stage. However, Tipperary Education and Training Board then asked the Department to reconsider the long-term needs of the school.

A proposal for a new school building on a greenfield site, which is essentially on the Mary Immaculate Teacher Training College campus, was received by the Department in March 2022. This necessitated a further comprehensive set of reports. These reports were provided by the education and training board to the Department in late October, which is less than a month ago. The Department has been reviewing and considering all of this information.

I spoke with the Minister for Education about this following my meeting with Deputies Cahill and Lowry about the optimal approach here and what could be exciting and have potential for the future. A meeting has been fixed for early December by the Department to discuss the accommodation needs of the school with a view to making an early decision in respect of its immediate and long-term needs. The Department agrees with the education and training board that the capital investment previously approved for the school needs to be increased - so the Department and the education and training board are at one there - so that the accommodation needs can be met.

The Department has also collated data relating to the most recent projections of school place requirements and has monitored the impact of the continuing arrival of Ukrainian students and other new arrivals in order to have the most complete picture possible. The Department's priority is to address critical school placement requirements, including for students with special educational needs. The accommodation needs of the school are being considered in that context. It is intended that a decision regarding the accommodation needs of the school will be made as soon as possible following the December meeting.

More generally, the Department is also committed to an energy retrofit programme for all schools built prior to 2008 in the context of meeting climate action goals. That may not be applicable in this case but is of general interest. A pilot pathfinder programme in conjunction with the SEAI is underway with a view to identifying viable and scalable solutions to roll out nationally. That is the current position.

Michael Lowry (Tipperary, Independent)
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I thank the Taoiseach for what is generally a positive and constructive approach. I ask that the matter be dealt with as a matter of urgency. It has been dragging on for a number of years. Coláiste Mhuire Co-Ed is a very successful and progressive school and the management and staff there have been outstanding. They are delivering excellence in education under extremely difficult circumstances. The board of management is constantly refusing entry to children and parents are asking why. Under the current restrictions, parents are unable to access the school of their choice in the Thurles area and this must be rectified.

The Department must recognise that the school needs and deserves proper accommodation and facilities. I have gone through this with everybody involved. The only solution is a new school. Adding extensions and using ad hoctemporary solutions is a waste of public money. We need a new school either on the existing site or as proposed, on the Mary Immaculate College campus in Thurles. Could the Taoiseach ask the officials to give it priority?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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When I met Deputies Lowry and Cahill in Thurles, I was very taken by the presentation by the authorities of Mary Immaculate College and its vision of a synergy between second-level education, further education and third-level education all on the one campus. This has potential. I have spoken to the Minister for Education. I am conscious that the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform is sitting two or three seats up from me. To be fair, he has given a lot of green lights to education. The school accommodation programme has been over-expended. We have said let us keep building the schools if we can. I am sure the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform understands the potential this site now offers. I have been persuaded by Deputies Lowry and Cahill. Obviously, it has to be examined and put into the framework. A lot of money is going to be spent anyway on the existing project so it is just doing the right thing for the long term. The Minister and the officials are saying they will make a decision as soon as possible.

Michael Lowry (Tipperary, Independent)
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I look forward to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform visiting us.