Gabrielle McFadden (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I would like to have a debate on this matter with the Minister.

I welcome the €690 million that is allocated in the budget for capital expenditure by the Department of Education and Skills. I am delighted with it on a personal level because it includes approval for Coosan national school in my constituency to proceed to tender. The school has been on the books for some 16 years and my late sister, former Deputy Nicky McFadden, and I both worked very hard over a period of eight years to get the project to where it is today. It was on the list for 2016 but was subsequently removed. I requested several months ago that the Minister be asked about that removal. I again ask the Leader to seek to discover how a school can be taken off a list. Fortunately, the Coosan project is now due to go to tender before Christmas, with many Independent Deputies jumping on the bandwagon to make announcements about it. As far as I am concerned, however, it is my announcement because I have been working on it for a long time. Notwithstanding the progress that is now being made, I remain concerned that it was taken off the list without any explanation. I would like to know the reason that was done, whether it was that the previous Minister removed it before the election or any other reason. I ask the Leader to raise the matter with the Minister.