Michael Brennan (Progressive Democrats)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and acknowledge the capital spending on schools in County Limerick, especially the fine building works completed in Adare, in Shountrade national school and Our Lady's Abbey national school.

The Minister of State and her officials are well aware of the special circumstances of the application by the board of management of St. Nicholas's Church of Ireland national school for the proposed building project adjacent to the Augustinian Priory in Adare. That is a listed building built in the 1300s and restored in the 18th century by the Earl of Dunraven who, in 1807, gave the building to the Church of Ireland as a place of worship for the community of Adare.

The existing St. Nicholas's national school is part of and adjacent to this church. The board of management has acquired a site from the Dunraven family for a proposed new building project. Fund-raising is ongoing and the community supports the project. I ask the Minister of State to take all the circumstances into consideration and ask the Department to fund this new building project to meet the needs of our community in Adare at this historic location.