Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have raised the following matter a number of times in this Chamber. I raised it as a Commencement Matter and I will raise it again today with genuine and deep regret. It is the matter of the three-school campus for Buncrana in County Donegal. We have two secondary schools and a primary school. We have Crana College, which is a fantastic school but it is packed to the gills. It is using space that should be for physical education to educate in prefabs. It is completely unacceptable. Gaelscoil Buncrana and Coláiste Chineál Eoghain are on community development sites and whereas people are very grateful to be able to use them, they are not appropriate for children's education.

Many years ago - over a decade at this stage - the boards of management of those three schools came together and generously agreed to go for a three-school campus, meaning there would be one location for all three schools. One would have thought it was a straightforward proposition. Initially the vocational educational committee in Donegal was tasked with this and, more recently, it was Donegal County Council on behalf of the Department of Education and Skills. Yet again, the same sites have been identified in the new process, and there have been negotiations on the site for years. There is no deadline. What happened in recent days is truly shocking, as it has been confirmed that the site has been sold to a private sector third party. That has left a process that was apparently close to conclusion in complete disarray, despite the parties waiting on this for more than a decade.

Donegal Oireachtas Members have requested a meeting with the Minister, Deputy Richard Bruton, but we have not heard from his office about the meeting being confirmed. This is an urgent matter. The boards of management acted in good faith. They did not bring people out in the streets or protest. They have acted patiently and in good faith, and they have waited for the deal to be done. Now the entire deal is up in the air. The Minister and the Department of Education and Skills must answer serious questions about what has gone wrong and they must reassure us that a solution will be forthcoming immediately. I ask the Deputy Leader to relay to the Minister the need to meet Donegal Oireachtas Members urgently and find a resolution to this.