Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank my party for allowing me to raise a local issue on the first part of the Order of Business today. Over a decade ago, a generous decision was taken by parents and teachers in the Inishowen area that they would agree to look for one site for a three-school campus. The three schools are Crana College secondary school, based in Buncrana but serving the Inishowen Peninsula, Gaelscoil Bhun Crannacha and Coláiste Chineál Eoghain, an Irish language secondary school and the first of its kind in Inishowen and vital to the Irish language and its sustenance in the area.

They came together and agreed that approach over a decade ago. At the time the vocational educational committee, VEC, was tasked with finding a site. I understand it did find an appropriate site. However, the process was then handed over by the Department to Donegal County Council. As I stand here today, over a decade has passed and still we do not have a site for a three-school campus based in Buncrana and serving the Inishowen Peninsula. It is a scandal that we are in this situation.

Crana College will soon have no area for sports and amenities because it is taken up with temporary buildings to house students. Gaelscoil Bhun Crannacha, a fantastic school, is based in a youth club. It is inappropriate for its needs. Similarly, Coláiste Chineál Eoghain is based in a mill. It is a fine building but again not suitable for a school and for its needs. The issue has come to this. In the public interest, where a site cannot be secured, it is important to move to a compulsory purchase order. The process has been at a snail's pace getting to this point. Negotiations surely cannot go on forever. Where there is an overriding public interest, as there is in this case, the Minister will finally, and I will wrap up with this-----