Conor Sheehan (Limerick City, Labour)
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There are five Deputies named on this Topical Issues matter. They have 48 seconds each so I encourage them to rattle it off, please.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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Gaelcholáiste Reachrann was founded in 2001 and, 24 years later, na daltaí, na múinteoirí agus pobal na scoile are still left waiting for permanent school buildings. Invitations to tender should have issued on 1 September. That is what was promised. That deadline has come and gone. Correspondence I have seen states that the Department of Education and Youth has failed to date to give the necessary approval for this to proceed to tender. What is causing this delay? When will it go to tender? Will the Minister of State tell us when the construction of these much-needed permanent school buildings will actually commence?

Naoise Ó Muirí (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I echo Deputy O'Callaghan's comments. The five Dublin Bay North Deputies are here together. The Minister of State has worked with us before on Belmayne Educate Together. This underlines the importance of the issue for the community. There is a very committed community of students, parents and teachers who have been waiting for 25 years for that building. The Minister, Deputy McEntee visited earlier this year and witnessed first-hand the commitment of the teachers, students and parents to education in the difficult facilities they have to work in. At the time, the officials and the Minister spoke about end of quarter 3, which is the end of September, for going to tender and breaking ground hopefully at the end of quarter 1 or the start of quarter 2 next year, depending on the tendering process.

We all understand little issues can knock things out of time. Based on my discussions with the Minister and on her visit, the project is a high priority for the Department. I urge the Minister of State to work with us and the Minister on getting the process completed and the project out to tender so the school can move on and prepare.

Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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Níl aon rud greanta i gcloch. Táimid fós ag fanacht. Tá sé deas go bhfuil gach Teachta Dála ó Cuan Bhaile Átha Cliath Thuaidh anois ag cur brú air seo ach táimid ag fanacht naoi mhí ar an Rialtas nua freagra a thabhairt. Tá sé deas go raibh an t-Aire sa scoil.

I appreciate everything the Aire Stáit has done for Dublin Bay North and I urge him to put pressure on to get an answer for those parents and students. Tá sé an-tábhachtach go bhfuil Gaeilge i Cuan Bhaile Átha Cliath Thuaidh ag feabhsú. Is é sin an rud is tábhachtaí.

Tom Brabazon (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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Tá scoláirí, tuistí, oidí agus an pobal máguaird gar do Ghaelcholáiste Reachrann ag fanacht ar bhuanfhoirgneamh le 24 bliain anuas. Tháinig an t-Aire amach chun na scoile i mí an Mheithimh agus fágadh gach duine leis an tuairim go mbeadh foirgneamh na scoile ag dul amach le haghaidh tairiscintí an mhí seo caite. In ainneoin ceisteanna parlaiminte, táimid ar fad ag fáil na freagraí ceannann céanna. Cut and paste atá ann mar a dúirt an Teachta Sherlock níos luaithe. Is léir ó na freagraí nach bhfuil a fhios ag éinne cathain a bheidh an conradh á chur amach le haghaidh tairiscintí. Tá freagraí uainn. Táimid ar fad, mar phobal, dearg le fearg. Níl sé seo maith go leor agus tá dul chun cinn ag teastáil go práinneach. Chun a bheith macánta, tá cic sa tóin tuillte go maith ag an Roinn as ucht na moille thar tréimhse blianta fada. Níl aon spás do a thuilleadh moille.

Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein)
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Gaelcholáiste Reachrann has been raised in the House many times over many years. I will not speak to the conditions of the school as they are well-documented but I acknowledge that the Minister, her officials and representatives of Dublin and Dún Laoghaire ETB visited the school in late May and gave a commitment that this would go to tender for our new permanent school build. Since then, we cannot get a clear answer about when it is going to tender. It is totally unfair to the school environment. We gather here today as Deputies from Dublin Bay North asking the Minister of State for a clear update on our new school build for Gaelcholáiste Reachrann.

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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What is the old Irish seanfhocal - "Ní neart go cur le chéile"? I worked with the Deputies on Belmayne Educate Together and it is encouraging to see all Deputies from the area coming together. It sends a powerful signal to their communities, to us and to the Department about the seriousness of it. I commend the Deputies on that.

I thank them for raising the issue. We are fully committed to delivering a new school building for Gaelcholáiste Reachrann. This large-scale capital project involves the provision of a new 600-pupil school and ancillary accommodation.

The project was originally authorised to proceed to tender upon completion of the prequalification questionnaire shortlisting process in September 2022. Planning permission was due to expire in December 2022 and it was anticipated that an application to extend the duration could be submitted. However, due to changes in the Planning and Development Act 2000, there was no longer provision to apply for an extension and a new application would be required. Authorisation was given in June 2022 to progress the new planning application. The new application was submitted in March 2023 with additional supporting documentation requested by Dublin City Council over and above what had been supplied with the original application. Our Department previously advised a new grant of planning was received in December 2023 with a number of conditions attached. As a result, decarbonisation measures were included in a revised project scope, in line with climate action objectives.

The design team has finalised the pre-tender checks and documents in line with revised technical guidance documentation from the Department and a report was recently submitted to the Department for review. This review is being undertaken in the context of the Department’s national development plan allocation and the finalisation of the NDP implementation plan. The design team has finalised the tender documents in line with revised technical guidance documentation from the Department. I am informed by the senior Minister that she expects the review of the project by Department officials to be completed shortly, which will allow the tender to take place. This large-scale capital project remains a priority for delivery and departmental officials remain engaged throughout with the patron, Dublin and Dun Laoghaire ETB.

The Department promotes and supports Irish-medium school provision, including Gaelcholáistí and Gaelscoileanna. There are 248 Gaelscoileanna and 50 Gaelcholáistí throughout the country. Between 2020 and 2024, capital expenditure of over €400 million was invested in Irish-medium schools, demonstrating the Department’s commitment to the Irish-medium school sector.

Naoise Ó Muirí (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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It is a bit frustrating. We are all fully committed to this project and are waiting for officials to make what should be a no-brainer of a decision, given where the project is, what the community is at and where we need to go. I urge the Minister of State to keep pressure on departmental officials and get the decision made quickly so we can get through this gate and the community can move on and start planning for a fine new building that is so badly needed.

Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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Gabhaim buíochas le gach Teachta Dála sa Teach. Mar a dúirt an tAire Stáit, tá sé iontach go bhfuil gach duine ag obair le chéile. To reiterate what colleagues have said, it is disappointing. We will all be making phone calls to parents of children in the school to tell them there is no definite answer. Is there anything the Minister of State can do to get a definite answer and a concrete timeline? It is very important.

Tom Brabazon (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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Tá mé ag éisteacht le leithscéalta ón Roinn le blianta fada anuas agus níl sé maith go leor. Tá freagraí dearfacha i scríbhinn ag teastáil.

Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein)
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I could say I am frustrated by the Minister of State's response but I do not know how to put it in words. For 24 years, Gaelcholáiste Reachrann has been fighting for a new build. We have had promise after promise. I stand here as a representative of Dublin Bay North and a parent of two children in that school. I am expressing the frustration of the parents in the school. We were promised ground would be broken in April of next year. Will the Minister of State give us the commitment that we will finally see our new school build starting in April?

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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The first thing I will say is I will not be giving any wild commitments. I understand the frustration and accept it absolutely.

Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein)
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So it was a photo op.

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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The design team has finalised the tender documentation. The review of the documentation is in the Department. The commitment I will give is we will make sure it is not delayed within it. There was a commitment given for 1 September. We are now heading for the end of October. That is six weeks of a delay. Every week and day is a delay. I accept people's frustration. As public representatives in the community, the Deputies have articulated it clearly and demonstrated unity this morning on the issue. I will give a commitment to move what has to be done in the Department speedily through the process and make sure this project is completed.

I understand the frustration of parents and the community that something that was promised over 25 years ago has not been delivered. It is needed. When we look at the draft of the documentation I have been given, it is frustrating to see that because of some technical issues on the planning side of it. I give a commitment that we will do everything that can be done to move this project on. I will report back to the Deputies with an update.