Caít Keane (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. I know everybody is very busy on one of the last days, but I am raising an issue that I raised before about a year ago. Gaelscoil Chnoc Liamhna is a school in Knocklyon where the students and teachers have been in prefabs for 18 years. This is unprecedented and unacceptable in Ireland.Every education Minister has said that prefabs are not suitable for the education of children and that they do not expect any school to be in a prefab for longer than three years. This school has been in a prefab for 18 years. I had this matter on the agenda here before. Parents and teachers are looking for a permanent building. When I was attending a meeting in Knocklyon last Thursday night, a mouse ran across the floor. I understand this is a daily occurrence in a space where children are being educated. The Minister of State knows what that does from the perspectives of health, safety and cleanliness. It disrupts the class for a time. It is a regular occurrence. I have campaigned on this issue for almost 20 years, since I was first elected to South Dublin County Council. I do not usually raise local issues in the Seanad, but the question of prefabs is a national educational issue. I know it is now the policy of the Department of Education and Skills to have all schools out of prefabs within three years. That is a new policy. I have heard the Minister, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, speaking about that.

This case has been going on for far too long. An urgent solution needs to be found by South Dublin County Council and the Minister for Education and Skills. It is disappointing, to say the least, that delays have been caused by bureaucracy and the legalities of the purchase of this site, which is in no-man's land because the bureaucracy has taken so long. I have raised this matter with the former Minister, Deputy Quinn, and the current Minister, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan. I raised it here with the Minister of State, Deputy English, approximately a year ago. I was told ten years ago that the site would be vested in the Department of Finance. Then I was told that there would be a compulsory purchase order. Now it is back to a compulsory purchase order again. It is totally unclear. I want a clear answer. If the Minister of State cannot verbally give me a clear answer here on the record of the Seanad, I want it in writing. I want to be told in simple language - A, B and C - when this is going to happen.

In May 2015, the Minister of State, Deputy English, said that the commencement of the building could not take place before the formal transfer of the land. On 22 June last, my office received a further letter from the Minister for Education and Skills which stated that the board and the Department had agreed a proposal that would possibly serve as a satisfactory solution. Today, we are back to square one. The compulsory purchase order has still not been taken. I have been told by South Dublin County Council that it will be initiated. The context is a clear commitment from the Government. The money is there. The Department of Education and Skills and the Minister have said that money is not the issue. The money will be forthcoming. The legalities need to be ironed out with the legal people in South Dublin County Council. Perhaps more pressure needs to be put on the Department of Education and Skills.

I want to see this happen in the next month. I want to see the compulsory purchase order out of the way and dealt with. Perhaps the Minister of State's last act in the Department of Education and Skills will be to get this school on the road for the people of Knocklyon and Dublin South-West by 2021. The Minister of State and the Minister for Education and Skills said that the use of prefabs for more than two years would be a rare exception. This case is a rare exception in Ireland. It has been 18 years on the go. I ask the Minister of State to highlight the reasons for this and say how and when it is going to be solved. I would appreciate it if he could give me a date and the other clear details I am seeking. It has slipped through the net. I do not like to use the word "negligence" when I am talking about officials in councils or elsewhere, but it is downright irresponsible, to put it mildly, that such delays are being caused by bureaucracy, carelessness and inefficiency.