Táim fíorbhuíoch de na Teachtaí Ellis agus McAuliffe as an ábhar seo a ardú sa Teacht. Táim ag caint thar ceann an Aire Oideachais. Tá brón uirthi nach bhfuil sí anseo chun labhairt faoi Ghaelscoil Uí Earcáin. Bhí an Teachta McAuliffe mar dhalta san fhoirgneamh 40 bliain ó shin. Bheadh a sheanathair bródúil as. Molaim dó as an obair atá á déanamh aige ar son na scoile. The important point that both Deputy Ellis and Deputy McAuliffe have raised is that the project is to provide a new replacement 16-classroom primary school and accommodation for pupils with special educational needs at the existing site. As the Members know, the current school building will remain in operation until the replacement school is delivered and will be demolished thereafter. I am taking this Topical Issue tonight on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Naughton. I know Deputy McAuliffe has been in contact with her. As has been said, the project is currently at stage 2a, architectural planning - developed design. At this stage, the preferred design option is developed to a point at which the project can be fully cost planned and prepared to lodge for statutory approvals. This major programme is being delivered under the Department's ADAPT programme. Tá an clár tógála scoile ag méadú. We are increasing the programme. The programme uses a professional external project manager to co-ordinate and drive the design team to achieve the best possible timeframe for the project through the stages of architectural planning and on to tender and construction. As both Deputies have said, the Department of Education and Youth has reviewed the stage 2a submission. The stage 2a stakeholders' meeting between the school authorities, the design team, the project manager and the Department was held in January last year. The meeting concluded with a request for the design team to submit a stage 2a addendum report addressing issues raised by the Department at the meeting. The Department has received this report. Upon review of the report, the Department will advise all stakeholders regarding the progression of the project. I have been informed by the Minister that she has published a €7.55 billion NDP sectoral investment plan for the education and youth sectors. This plan places a strong emphasis on maximising existing capacity and the prioritisation of school building projects to meet the most urgent needs. In this regard, there will be a strong emphasis on special education throughout project roll-out. Of the €7.55 billion, it is envisaged that around €5 billion will be used for project roll-out to support the delivery and modernisation of school buildings across the large-scale, additional accommodation, modular and annual September accommodation needs programmes. I am told the Department will continue to build on the progress made with the continued roll-out of these projects on a prioritised basis to meet the most urgent needs in terms of provision of additional capacity and modernisation of existing facilities. The Minister has informed me that she has published a list of 105 school building projects to proceed to construction or tender this year or next year. This includes 80 large-scale and additional school accommodation scheme projects. There is a strong focus on maximising existing capacity and prioritising project roll-out to meet the most urgent needs and particularly to support special education needs provision. Those projects that are at tender stage, stage 3, will be facilitated to progress to construction over the course of this year and next year. Some 35 projects that currently have planning permission and that are at pre-tender stage will also be facilitated. I will take the views and remarks of both Deputies back to the Minister. I know the reply I have given is not what they wanted to hear as regards where we are going and the provision of additional capacity to cater for the demographics they have described clearly. On foot of what we have heard tonight, I will bring their remarks and views back to the Minister.

Sentiment score: 0.16

Táim ag éisteacht leis na Teachtaí McAuliffe agus Ellis. Tá a fhios agam go bhfuil díomá orthu leis an bhfreagra. Táim ag tógáil an t-ábhar seo thar ceann an Aire. Mar a dúirt mé, tabharfaidh mé freagraí na beirte don Roinn agus don Aire. I will disagree with Deputy Ellis on one thing. This Government is committed to the Irish language. Táimid ag méadú an líon scoileanna, buiséad Roinn na Gaeltachta agus úsáid na Gaeilge sna scoileanna agus sa phobal. I understand the frustration and the depth of disappointment of the Deputies. I am taking this Topical Issue on behalf of the Minister. I will relay the concerns the Deputies have expressed tonight to her. As a former teacher and someone who understands the need for scoil nua a thógáil do Ghaelscoil Uí Earcáin, tá a fhios agam go bhfuil fuinneamh ag na Teachtaí i leith an chláir seo. I recognise that the school building project is important to the Deputies. It is an important part of what we do in expending the education budget. I recognise that the reply tonight is not what the Deputies want to hear. I will certainly bring their remarks back. I will definitely relay their concerns as to the advancement of the school building programme to the Department and the Minister. I thank them for their courtesy to me tonight.

Sentiment score: 0.06

I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. I am taking it on behalf of the Minister for Transport, who sends his apologies. The Government is strongly committed to providing all citizens with reliable sustainable mobility options. Public transport plays a key role in the delivery of this goal. Improving public transport services and infrastructure is central to improving all people's quality of life. As the Deputy mentioned, the Limerick-Shannon metropolitan area transport strategy sets out the framework for the delivery of the transport system required to further develop that whole Limerick region. A key principle of the strategy is to reduce dependency on the car while increasing the appeal of sustainable transport options. Proposed projects such as double tracking the line from Limerick Colbert to Limerick Junction and improving the frequency of services on the Limerick-Nenagh-Ballybrophy line as demand for travel increases will help to achieve this. Investment in the Ballybrophy line is provided for under the infrastructure manager multi-annual contract, the contractual arrangement between the Minister for Transport and Iarnród Éireann for the protection and renewal of the rail network. The current contract runs for four years from 2026 to 2030 and will see over €2 billion invested in the rail network over this period. The funding will increase service reliability and punctuality, improve journey times and ensure continued safety of rail services across the network. As an example of the type of works funded, in 2021, an enhanced programme of track re-laying on the Ballybrophy line was supported by this programme. Iarnród Éireann invested €22.8 million between 2011 and 2020 on improvements and upgrades to the infrastructure on the Ballybrophy to Limerick rail line. The upgrades were made up of a range of infrastructural improvements across the track, bridges, signalling systems and other structures that comprise the assets on this route. Irish Rail has invested further in the line between 2020 and 2022, which ha seen the route upgraded from jointed track to continuous welded rail, yielding journey time improvements of 15 minutes. Any further journey time improvements would be dependent on further investment in level crossings and other infrastructure. There are 12 staffed level crossings on the Limerick-Ballybrophy branch and there are no plans to automate these in the short to medium term. A re-signalling scheme for this branch will likely be required to facilitate the automation of these level crossings. An estimate in 2023 suggested it would cost in the region of €58 million to re-signal the line and automate these level crossings, but further studies would be required to produce a definitive current estimate. The high number of user-operated crossings, including farm crossings, would also need to be addressed to further improve journey time. As well as addressing gatekeeper resources, one of the most significant issues currently is fleet availability. While new trains entering service from 2027 onwards as part of the DART+ programme will initially have direct benefit within the greater Dublin area, the secondary effect of these new trains will be to free up intercity and commuter trains currently operating on the northern line to be used on other routes around the network. Their deployment will be subject to review with, and the approval of, the National Transport Authority, subject to demand and infrastructure capacity at the time. The Minister of State, Deputy Canney, the Minister and I look forward to working closely with the NTA and Iarnród Éireann in the coming years to increase the number of trains in operation on regional lines across the country. Deputy O'Meara's points are well made about the commuter line, the servicing of it and the need for a uniformity of approach. I will bring his remarks back to the Minister. I thank the Deputy for meeting with the NTA and for his ongoing advocacy and the work he is doing. His points are well made and are part of what we will be the national rail framework in the coming years.

Sentiment score: 0.31

I share the Deputy's point that the Department and the Minister and Minister of State are fully supportive of investment in rail. The Deputy's ambition for north Tipperary and the areas he has mentioned is correct. The All-Island Strategic Rail Review will be the pillar on which we will outline our approach, that is, the Department's approach, to sequencing and optimising the recommendations in the coming years. The important point is that, in the short term to 2030, the prioritisation strategy specifies a number of early interventions to be delivered in the coming years, which include a new platform at Limerick Junction, which will support through services between Cork and Galway via Limerick and more movements from Cork to Limerick. It also includes a passing loop at Clonmel, which will achieve that two hourly service between Limerick and Waterford. In addition, there are the pieces around electrification and line speed on the Dublin-Cork, Dublin-Belfast and Belfast-Limerick Junction lines. Under the All-Island Strategic Rail Review, in the context of Limerick-Ballybrophy, the ambition is to increase the service frequency to a two hourly service in each direction on that line. It should also be noted that projects referred to in the rail review and prioritising strategy will be advanced by Government in the context of the infrastructure guidelines. Again, the points made by the Deputy are pertinent. The ambition the Deputy speaks about is one that we have as a Department. The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, and I look forward to the progression of the recommendations of the rail review over the coming years in the Limerick region. I certainly hope that our successors here, whether they are celebrating 200 years of Fianna Fáil or whatever, will not have to have this conversation about the important point the Deputy makes. The argument has been won. He is right, and I thank him for his contribution. It is our job to make sure that we make improvements on the line, for increased travel and shorter times, so that the next generation and this generation can have commuter rail, which is what we all badly need.

Sentiment score: 0.27