Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Chuala mé an teachtaireacht inniu. I hear the message. I place this in the context of the pressure the Department has been under over many decades.Even going back to the late 1970s and the 1980s, many flat-roofed schools were built and they are still fit for purpose and being used today. The Department is looking at a type of retrofit project that will address environmental and sustainability issues for schools built before 2008. The accommodation in question was built prior to 2008 and I understand that parents and the community want a more permanent solution.

In the context of options involving alternative sites - and the Senator has come forward with options - one thing I have to say about the officials, who I have only got to know in recent weeks, is that they are very flexible and adapt to new suggestions and ideas. Obviously, I am trying to get a figure for the budget that has been spent in the areas of Wicklow, Kildare, Meath and Dublin in the past ten years, given there has been phenomenal growth in population and we must add that to the pressures and constraints on new buildings. I understand that when parents hear of other announcements of new schools, they obviously ask what is the situation regarding this school. We have a ten-year capital plan and the Project Ireland 2040 plan, which points to the space we will be in by 2040. I know parents and others in the community are not living in a space where they believe this is to be realised by 2040, but that we start working in that capital space in terms of how we get there over that period.

Cloisim an teachtaireacht ón Seanadóir. Ba mhaith liom mo aitheantas a ghabháil leis fá choinne seans a thabhairt dom labhairt ar Ghaelscoil Cholmcille - ainm deas agus ceangal le mo chontae féin, Tír Chonaill. Nuair a bhíonn tograí scoile ar intinn ag Seanadóirí, bíonn mo chluasa foscailte. Beidh mé ag labhairt le mo chomhghleacaithe chun níos mó sonraí a fháil i dtaobh stádas an togra atáthar ag iarraidh a bhaint amach ó bhí 2008 ann, agus i dtaobh an plean nó an bealach a bheidh de dhíth go dtí go mbeidh foirgneamh níos fearr ag an scoil sa todhchaí.