Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I commend and congratulate everybody involved in the Five Lamps Arts Festival, which brings the north inner city to life from a cultural perspective. It celebrates everything that is great about Dublin's north inner city, our diversity and heritage, including everything from the built heritage through to the literary heritage and the natural heritage. I congratulate the organisers, volunteers and everybody who has performed in, contributed to and participated in the festival.

I again raise the situation of Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire, which is located on Parnell Square, at the top of O'Connell Street. The school has waited patiently for 20 years, in temporary accommodation, for its own purpose-built school. When I was a city councillor, I was proud and delighted to support the transfer of land on Dominick Street for the building of a new purpose-built school. Over the past ten years, the progress has been glacial. It has been painfully slow. I was really pleased that in the past two years, working with the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, we have made significant progress, with the project going to planning and to tender. It is heartbreaking for the pupils, teachers and the whole school community that all of that work and accelerated progress in the past two years has now ground to a halt in the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform. It is unacceptable for the pupils, teachers and the whole school community. There is a cost to not moving forward. This project is shovel-ready and has a tender that can be accepted. The time for doing cost-benefit analysis is well and truly over. I would appreciate if the Leader would raise this issue with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform and ask it to release the funds immediately in order that the project can go ahead.