Marie Sherlock (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. We have previously spoken about Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire on Parnell Square and yet again unfortunately this morning we are back to talk about this school because there is another delay. Last year we were told by the Department of Education that the sod would be turned in November 2021. That has not happened. At the start of November, we were dubiously told that stage 2b would be complete by the first week of December and that the tender stage would commence in January. This week we learn that the design stage will not be completed until the end of January, tenders will not go out until the end of March and the sod could be turned next September. There is great frustration at this stage. Anyone who is familiar with this project would have to be sceptical about those timelines. This school has been waiting for 17 years for a new building.

I have a list of all the primary schools in this country in temporary accommodation, either prefabs or private rented accommodation. There are approximately 418 schools on that list. Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire is fifth longest in private rented accommodation on that list. According to the list, the school moved into its temporary accommodation in 2006. I understand it moved into its current building some time before that, but we will go with the Department's list. The list of schools in private accommodation shows that, of the five on the list from 2006 and before, there is a 42-pupil school, a 29-pupil school, an 80-pupil school and a 113-pupil school. Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire has 194 pupils. It is a medium-sized school yet, year after year the Department sees fit to keep this school in private rented accommodation, stump up €300,000 for a building that is decrepit and only made work by the amazing and wonderful efforts of the school staff and the entire school community.

Today, I hope to get assurances and cast-iron guarantees from the Minister of State with regard to how this project will commence. She might say that some of this is out of the Department's hand and that it is with the design team. That is not good enough. What is the Department doing to ensure the design team will deliver on time? What measures are being taken to ensure that whatever payments are being made to the design team will include a fine if it does not deliver on time? With regard to the tender process, originally we were told that the Department would take approximately four weeks to turn around the opening up of the tender process from when it received the detailed design. We now hear it could take eight weeks or more. What is the Department going to do to assure the school and the school community that it will prioritise and move as quickly as possible on the opening up of the tender process?

Finally I understand that in correspondence from the design team that working from home has been given as an excuse regarding a potential slippage in the new timeline set out. We are now 20 months into the pandemic. It is simply unacceptable that anybody would use working from home as an excuse for slippage in timelines. What assurances will the Department give that the school will receive the utmost priority within the Department? Being frank, it has not received that attention up until now and the frustration among the school community, the parents and staff is at an all-time high. We need positive news from the Department.