Noel O'Donovan (Fine Gael)
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I was enjoying my game of waving across the Chamber to the students. They are very welcome. I hope they enjoy their day.

I congratulate the Minister of State on his recent appointment. It is my first opportunity to do so here in the Chamber. As always, it is an honour to be in his presence. He is a man who has weathered many storms in political life and had sunny days as well. The way he conducts his business across the House and across the party is a lesson for us all. I congratulate him, his family and his supporters at home.

This matter relates to the urgent need for progress on the long-awaited school building at Sacred Heart Secondary School in Clonakilty.It has been dragging on for far too long. The situation on the ground has reached the point where health and safety concerns cannot be ignored any longer. Sacred Heart Secondary School, Clonakilty, is a high-achieving all-girls school that has been at the heart of education in west Cork since 1941. With 544 students, it continues to excel academically, culturally and socially. Recently, I welcomed a group of girls from the school to Leinster House to present to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Martin Heydon, their project as one of the five groups of national finalists in the Certified Irish Angus Schools Competition. The school is delivering on many levels other than the academic level and it continues to excel every day.

Despite the exceptional efforts of the school community, those in the school are operating in conditions that are simply not good enough. The school has been seeking building works for 16 years. There have been 16 years of waiting, meetings, submitting documents and seeking progress. The project was approved in principle for stage 2a. Additional information has been submitted by the design team, but, to date, the school has received no timeline and no indication as to when the project will move to the next phase.

Following my recent visit to the school, I have been deeply concerned about what I saw. The old convent building, where progress has already been delayed because of the presence of bats, is now leaking again at the roof. Pigeons have re-entered part of the structure despite previous works. These are not minor issues; this is a building that is deteriorating rapidly. More worrying still is the former boarding house. The building has been assessed as being in poor condition, yet it is used every day by students and staff because there is nowhere else for them to go. From a health and safety point of view, this is not acceptable in 2025.

The technology room, an extremely popular and vital subject area, now has visible dry rot. Detailed refurbishment plans and costings were submitted to the Department some time ago but there has been no response. School management fears that the room will soon be deemed unsafe and unsuitable. If that happens, students will lose access to key curricular facilities. Even more worrying, there is a growing rodent problem in parts of the building. Pest-control contractors have raised serious concerns that parts of the old convent building may now be acting as a breeding ground for rats. This requires immediate intervention. The school should be focusing on supporting learning, not on trying to keep ahead of leaks, dry rot and rodents.

The situation is no longer just about long-term planning and capital investment, it is also about safety, including the safety of students, teachers and everyone working in the school. The school’s management is seeking clarity on several key points. I want to put these formally on the record of the House. The management want: a definitive timeframe for progressing the project to stage 2a; clear phasing information for the full project so the school knows what change to expect and when to expect it; urgent enabling works, particularly for the boarding house and the technology room; a response to the submitted refurbishment plans for the technology room; and immediate action to address the structural deterioration, pest issues and leaks in the convent building.

The school community understands the complexities involved, but after 16 years the level of frustration is entirely understandable. Sacred Heart is a thriving, dynamic school doing everything asked of it and it deserves facilities that reflect the quality of education it provides. I ask today for a clear update on the status and clarity on when stage 2a will commence.

On its website, the school has a quote attributed to W.B. Yeats, “Education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire.” The school’s development and construction works certainly need to have a fire lit under them. The students and staff of Sacred Heart Secondary School deserve a safe, modern learning environment. They deserve certainty and action.

I thank the Minister of State for being here.

Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for raising this important issue, namely the need to provide an update on the proposed building works at Sacred Heart Secondary School, Clonakilty, and when those works will be progressed to the next stage. I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Education and Youth, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton.

I thank the Senator for his congratulations. It is great to be back in the Seanad. I was elected to the Seanad on two occasions and believe a Commencement matter is an important way to address issues that arise in all constituencies. This is a very new and vibrant Seanad and it has many first-time Senators. I see five of these in front of me from all parties and the Independents. The Seanad is a wonderful platform to work from.

As the Senator will be aware, the planned school building project at Sacred Heart Secondary School, Clonakilty, County Cork, was approved as a major devolved construction and refurbishment project to provide for a long-term projected enrolment of 600 pupils and a three-classroom special educational needs base.

The project has been devolved for delivery to the Catholic Education and Irish Schools Trust, CEIST, which has appointed a design team to design the accommodation being provided and to bring the project through the tender and construction phases. The design team has responsibility for progressing the project as expeditiously as possible through the stages of architectural planning. Projects progress from stage to stage in accordance with the project brief and the Department's design guidelines. The project for Sacred Heart Secondary School, Clonakilty, has recently been granted approval to progress to stage 2a, the developed design stage, of the architectural design process. At this juncture, it is not feasible to give an indicative timeline for delivery. However, the Department will continue to engage directly with CEIST to provide assistance in respect of the project, as required.

Since 2020, the Department has invested over €6 billion in schools throughout the country under the national development plan, involving the completion of over 1,300 schools building projects. In addition, repurposing and optimisation of existing accommodation capacity across the school estate has been the key enabler of timely, local provision of special-class capacity in a way that supports best practice in inclusion and integration. Approximately 80% of new special classes in the 2025–26 school year are being facilitated in repurposed classroom accommodation.

In July, the Government announced a capital allocation of €7.55 billion for the Department of Education and Youth for the period 2026 to 2030 under the national development plan. As part of the plan’s allocation, the Department will place a strong emphasis on provision for children with special educational needs, with a particular focus on meeting annual school place needs.

With regard to the roll-out of large-scale projects and additional school accommodation scheme projects, the approach will be to continue to maximise the capacity of the existing school estate as much as possible in the first instance and provide necessary additional capacity through targeted and prioritised project roll-out over the course of the period 2026 to 2030 to meet the most urgent and prioritised needs. The Department remains committed to providing ongoing guidance and practical supports in the delivery of the project.

The Senator has raised the very disturbing issue of bats, rodents and other pests and feels the school is deteriorating rapidly. I will relay the issues raised to the Minister.

Noel O'Donovan (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his response. I am delighted to have confirmation that the school project has now moved to stage 2a. That is extremely welcome and the school’s management will be delighted to hear it. There is still a way to go on this issue, however. I assure the people of Clonakilty and the rest of west Cork that I will be raising it here until we see construction commence at the school. We recently noted that planning permission was granted for over 200 homes in Clonakilty. That is really welcome as Clonakilty is a hub town for west Cork. When we see the construction of homes, infrastructure must follow. We have roads issues in Clonakilty. A traffic study is to start there but we need to ensure we have the required infrastructure and facilities, including childcare facilities and school places, following on from the building of the homes. I have met people in my clinics who cannot get places for students in Clonakilty because of the current school infrastructure. We need to see delivery at the convent.

I made the point locally that bats and birds are important, but so too is a safe education. We need to see the common-sense delivery of these projects. I thank the Minister of State.

Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Again, I thank the Senator. I am sure his timely intervention today has helped to bring the project to stage 2a. I thank him for that. This is what politics is all about. We meet our communities and stakeholders on issues and bring them to the Oireachtas. I am delighted that the project has reached stage 2a.

The Senator said he is not going to rest on his laurels. I look forward to his working with the school management team, the principal and the parents and to his raising this matter with the Minister and on the floor of this Chamber. That is what it is about. Sometimes departmental units and design teams do not reach a certain stage, for one reason or another. Therefore, it is no harm to have the Senator on the ground to keep us all in touch and motivated. I know myself that this is what it is about. I thank the Senator very much.