Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his response but it does not answer the question around when the school capacity review will be completed. The school returns are one aspect of the information that is gathered by the Department of Education. A school capacity review is a separate review and that is the information, along with other data sources, that we use when we are trying to identify school places and school capacity. It is frustrating. We are going to have more than 100 new families moving into Ballinasloe. This will open up rental capacity, which will be wonderful and new families will move to our town, which is great. I want to see our town grow; I want to see it double. However, it is not good enough to say we have data from 2022 and 2023 when I am trying to look at what budget we are going to put in place for the year ahead. I have already had such difficulty around getting school transport for children going to a school a few miles outside of Ballinasloe. We need to plan ahead now. Regarding that new school and classrooms, that new school for Scoil an Chroí Naofa for which I battled, was 27 years of waiting. I do not know how many children, parents, and grandparents have gone through that school but they are still waiting for a school and it will be another three years before that school comes on line. Where does the Minister think those children and families, including those proposed for Ballinasloe who are coming from Ukraine, are going to go? I do not know.