Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is very welcome to the House. Scoil an Chroí Naofa in Ballinasloe was established in 1996 with an understanding at that time from the Department of Education that there would be a new school build. Families, teaching staff and the board itself have been waiting 28 years. This is a school with more than 300 children. It is really a shocking indictment of delays in the system. We have fantastic teaching support in the school but children and teachers are freezing every winter. These buildings date back to the thirties and sixties. This is where the children are. It is a DEIS level 1 school. Since I was elected as a councillor for the Ballinasloe municipal district in 2019, and as a Senator, I have raised capacity issues for this town. My very first Commencement matter was about Scoil an Chroí Naofa. Following that Commencement matter, we had the opportunity to meet with the Department of Education and with stakeholders in Galway County Council and there was a new impetus to drive a new application which changed from the 13 classrooms to 16 classrooms for Scoil an Chroí Naofa.

I have raised this issue of school capacity in Ballinasloe on multiple occasions, even most recently in November 2023. More than 130 families who have just been allocated their new homes through the local authority but an additional 60 families from Ukraine are moving to Ballinasloe. This is since the census. I have worked with the former Minister of State in the Department of Education, Deputy Madigan, on two additional classrooms for Creagh National School, where there are 440 students and on four additional classrooms for St. Teresa's Special School. In my constituency in Roscommon-Galway there are just two special schools, of which St. Teresa's is one, which caters for a huge catchment area. I worked with Ardscoil Mhuire and the Gaelscoil with 200 pupils around accessing additional supports through DEIS funding. That meant more teachers and more SNAs on the ground. More than 1,000 children of primary school age and another 1,000 post-primary students are going to Ardscoil Mhuire and Garbally College. Once amalgamated, these two schools will become the brand new Clonfert College.

The Department of Education has indicated that this project in Scoil an Chroí Naofa is the most significant project for planned additional capacity. It will be a new 16-classroom school building that will have three classrooms for pupils with special educational needs. We have a wonderful design and proof for planning. I have seen the very basic design that went in for planning to Galway County Council but there are delays again. I am working closely with the principal Christine Connor and with the school board, including the patron Bishop Michael Duignan, but there is immense frustration with the lag here and the delays. There are obstacles to moving this project forward. It is still at design stage. It is 2024 and with each delay there is a failure to make a decision. Again, we do not have a school for children in our town.

This responsibility lies with the building section and the design team in the Department. Our school board is driving this project forward but there has been frustration at each point. On 21 September 2023, planning permission was granted by Galway County Council. On 22 March 2024, a revised design was approved by the Department of Education. On 26 April 2024, the council itself indicated approval of the design submission from the Department. The design team now has to move this project to the tender stage and from that tender stage comes the letter of acceptance and the letter of intent so that we get a budget to actually build this school. This is a DEIS level 1 school for pupils in Ballinasloe as well as children travelling from counties Galway, Roscommon, Offaly and Westmeath. I know the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, is taking this commencement on behalf of the Minister Deputy Foley, but I want to ask the Minister when this school will get built. I want a date. We have been driving this for the past four to five years, since I was elected a public representative, and still I stand here as a Senator fighting for this. I will stand here as a public representative, be it as a Senator or as TD, and I will fight for this project. I want the Minister to tell us when we will have a date, a timeline and what resources are being allocated to this project.