Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, to the House. I raise a very important issue relating to education in Ennistymon, County Clare. The debate on a community school for the area has been ongoing since I was in school there in the late 1980s and early 1990s. There are three schools in Ennistymon, namely, the CBS, the vocational school and Scoil Mhuire, all of which do an excellent job in providing educational opportunities to young people. I and others of my generation went to school there and did exceptionally well.

The problem relates to the schools' infrastructure. The buildings are many decades old. Pupils must commute from one school to another in order to optimise their choice of subjects and ensure they have the opportunities available to other students. That is done in inclement weather conditions such as those currently being experienced in County Clare, where it is pouring rain. The children must move from one school to another in order to study subjects such as history, science, woodwork and so on. The pupils of the three schools are criss-crossing the town of Ennistymon.

I was delighted at the Government announcement in 2013 or 2014 that funding for a state-of-the-art, purpose-built community school to amalgamate the three schools was being provided. An amalgamation committee of which I was a member was in being for several years prior to that. It included Oireachtas representatives for the area and the trustees, boards of management and principals of the schools. Since the funding announcement, the project successfully went through the planning process.

People want to know when building will commence and when students will be able to enrol in the new facility. The process has been going on for a long time. The money is available and planning permission has been granted. When will construction commence and when can enrolment begin?