Pat O'Neill (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

My Adjournment matter concerns Colaiste Pobail Osraí and is similar to Senator Cullinane's but it may not be as advanced. Colaiste Pobail Osraí was established in Kilkenny as an ionad in 1991 with 13 students. It now has 193 students and is the only Irish language second level school in County Kilkenny. Following an inspection by the Department of Education and Skills, it was granted its own roll number. Prior to that it had been under the remit of Kilkenny Vocational School. The application for the next few years shows an enrolment increase of approximately 20 students per year. The only outdoor play area at the school is a basketball court. This is not ideal for 193 students.

The school has been located in temporary prefabricated accommodation on the site of Ormonde College, a post-leaving certificate, PLC, college, since 1995. To date, €930,000 has been spent on temporary accommodation for Colaiste Pobail Osraí, that is, €137,000 per annum, since 2007 and, therefore, it makes sense to move this project on. If some decision is not reached within the next two to three years, there will be no option but for the school to move into temporary accommodation on a more suitable site, which will incur greater expense for the Department, without an overall resolution to this problem.

This would incur greater expense for the Department, without an overall solution to the problem. I would appreciate a positive response from the Minister to this.