Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and thank her for attending in person. It is very important that senior Ministers attend debates here in the Seanad. It is also important for my constituents. On 7 October 2015, a delegation from Scoil Mhuire, Maigh Cuilinn, travelled to Leinster House to meet the then Minister for Education and Skills, Jan O'Sullivan, to deliver a petition. The former Deputy, Derek Nolan, and I met the delegation. There were 4,500 signatures from parents and children in the Moycullen area on this petition. This is my school, which I attended until 1987. This project is, therefore, a very personal issue for me.

The hard work of the community paid off and, on 17 November 2015, Scoil Mhuire was included in a new five-year school-building programme to run from 2016 to 2021. Since then, there has been engagement between the Department and the board of management of Scoil Mhuire, which has done Trojan work over recent years. There was a meeting between the Department's technical team and the senior planner for Galway County Council on 29 September 2016. There has been engagement between the Moycullen Community Development Association and the board of management regarding an alternative site for the new building. The board of management raised funds to purchase this site in Killarainey woods.

The project was in limbo for a number of years while a decision from the Department of Education as to the most appropriate site was awaited. In December 2018, I arranged a meeting with the then Minister, Deputy McHugh, followed by another meeting on 27 March 2019 in Galway. The Department came back to us with concerns regarding the costings related to the alternative site. It then made the decision to build on the existing site of Scoile Mhuire.

As I have said, the debate as to the most appropriate site for a new school has raged on. My own view is that the school should move to a new site and that the existing building should be used as a secondary school for the community. The Department, however, has settled on using the existing site. In May of this year, the school was granted funding for a design team to progress the project, which is very welcome. Over the summer, a new state-of-the-art temporary structure was installed. I acknowledge that and thank the Department for providing that funding. That new structure has been in place since the start of this school term in Autumn. These are huge improvements on the prefabs that have been in place for too long.

Tá frustrachas ann sa pharóiste maidir leis an easpa dul chun cinn ar an togra seo. Tá an scoil ar an liosta le haghaidh foirgneamh nua le cúig bliana anuas. Bhí go leor plé ann maidir leis an suíomh is feiliúnaí. Tá muintir Mhaigh Chuilinn ag lorg cinnteachta maidir leis an togra seo. Mar a dúirt mé, táim ag caint anseo faoi mo sheanscoil ar a bhfreastal mé mar ghasúr óg suas go 1987. Tá brú mór ar an scoil faoi láthair. Tá beagnach 400 páiste ag freastal uirthi. Tá siad ag lorg foirgneamh scoile nua, rud atá ag teastáil agus atá tábhachtach do na múinteoirí agus do pháistí an pharóiste. I know progress has been made but it has been painfully slow. The Department has settled on the existing site. Will the Minister confirm that is the case and that the school is to progress towards the design stage and a planning application soon? Is that still the intention of the Department regarding this very important project for the Moycullen community?