Joe O'Toole (Independent)

I thank the Minister of State for her reply. I feel worse now than I did at the outset because it appears that it will be 18 months before the project will even obtain approval to proceed to construction. That is an impossible situation. As the Minister of State indicated, comments on the project are being awaited from the technical team. However, it has been with the team for a long period and there is no excuse for the delay with the exception of there being a political view that the project should not be advanced. As a public representative, I am embarrassed that we cannot take action in order to cater for the needs of these children. I appreciate the Minister of State's commitment to communicate with me further and I will contact her in the coming weeks in order that we progress the matter.