I thank the Deputies for raising the issue in relation to the secondary school in Ballyfermot. From childhood, I have heard of the St. John's College on Le Fanu Road, Ballyfermot, so it is no stranger to me. I know the school. I have been in the school a number of times in a private capacity, and I have also met with some of the team there in different roles over the past 12 months. I take the opportunity of thanking the Deputies for raising the issue. They spoke about the three colleges coming together, St. John's, St. Dominic's and Caritas College, and amalgamating two sites and bringing them to St. John's College and Le Fanu Road site as the planned location for the new school building, which has the junior element of the amalgamated schools, and St. Dominic’s College, which is the senior element. The Minister, Deputy Naughton met recently with the school principal and representatives and both Deputies have been engaging constantly with the school management on this issue. This is a hugely innovative, proactive and exciting project for Ballyfermot, St. John's and indeed, the entire region. My commitment to the Deputies is that the school building project is currently planned to be delivered as part of phase 2 of the Department's ADAPT 4 innovative programme. I take their points on when the amalgamation was coming forward. It is always fiercely exciting when the Department comes in and says, "If you do an amalgamation, we will ensure the project is moving forward at pace.” We need to make sure that does happen and that in terms of getting school boards of management and communities to amalgamate together, we follow up with decisions in a timely manner. This campus is aimed at providing over 1,000 places for second level education, which is hugely important. My commitment is that we will go back and re-engage, and I will take the concerns the Deputies raised. I will also take my own personal commitment to and involvement with the school. I could nearly name some of the teachers who taught in St. John's over many years, including people from my own community. I know the expertise, commitment and determination of the people involved in relation to it, and how they want to see this through. They are true educators and people who are really seriously committed, not just about making sure they have the day-to-day running but having the future education requirements of the greater Ballyfermot area at heart. l undertake, as a result of this Topical Issue this morning, to re-engage with the Department to ensure decisions are made in a timely manner, to ensure this project can move forward and to give substance to the commitment that was given at the start of the amalgamation process, that this would be dealt with in a timely manner. I would love to see this project moving forward for a variety of reasons, but most importantly, for the communities and people and future direction of education for the people of Ballyfermot. I take into consideration the commitment the community has to special education. I will make a few more comments in my closing remarks.

Sentiment score: 0.37

I certainly will take up the invitation to visit the school as soon as is humanly possible. I know there is a lot of great work going on at all levels of education within the school campuses. On foot of this debate, we need to make sure that the practical steps are being taken as regards the project team and planning permission, and on to other work. We need to make sure that we have sight of this and that there is meaningful engagement between the Department and the school communities. There is always huge excitement with amalgamations but we must follow that up with actions. There are particular building blocks to make sure a project is completed or started so we need to make sure that those blocks are in place and that there is real, tangible movement. I give a commitment to go back to the Department and engage very seriously with the officials and my senior colleague to make sure this project moves forward. I give an undertaking as well to visit the school for a variety of reasons. I have a personal interest in it. I would like to see Ballyfermot moving forward as well. It is the right thing to do, not just for the school communities who have amalgamated and the school authorities who have engaged in a very good faith way to amalgamate but also for the education of the communities in Ballyfermot into the future. I undertake to visit and also to engage seriously with the Department to try to make sure this project moves forward and that there are tangible and measurable steps taken to ensure we bring it to amalgamation and to construction.

Sentiment score: 0.49

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. We published the plan indicating the amount we will put into the NDP and the sectoral plan on education over the next three or four years. While we have the large figures and a huge amount of capital investment in it, and we announced which schools would be going over the next while, there is continuing engagement in the Department. The Deputy has raised four schools and the challenge we have is to ensure that when commitments are given by the Department to build, extend and refurbish schools, those commitments are honoured. We must either give commitments to say we are doing it or hold back on them until such time as we can meaningfully deliver on them. The Deputy raised Coláiste Phobal Ros Cré, Coláiste Mhuire Co-Ed, Nenagh CNS and Newport College. He outlined the issues in relation to Nenagh. I do not know the exact issue as I have not been there, but he mentioned the issue of using the gym as a classroom. I have serious concerns about the challenges we have in the education system. We are not looking at the hallaí, as they are called in most schools, or the gyms to turn them into classrooms in the short term. That can only be a short-term solution because all these buildings are important infrastructure for the education of young people. We have spent a huge amount in north Tipperary over the past number of years, in terms of the projects that have been delivered. There is also a huge number of other projects we are doing. We are upgrading, over the course of 2026-27, about 10% of the school estate. There is serious investment by Government in the form of capital expenditure. We are spending money and we must ensure we get the best possible value for it. I will endeavour to go back to the Department about the schools the Deputy mentioned and try to come back with some meaningful discussion on what is happening with the four schools. We visited north Tipperary some time earlier. If I had a second I could nearly put a date on it, but we had a very successful visit to north Tipperary that day. It was, dare I say it, one of the great moments I have had since being appointed. I note the schools the Deputy has raised and will endeavour to go back to the Department. I will report back to him fully on those schools. On the overall side we have put a huge amount into the national development plan to invest in education because we believe every penny invested in education is the right thing to do. We have ongoing work in the Department on school projects. The commitment I will give is to go back and try to get direct answers on the four schools the Deputy raised.

Sentiment score: 0.26

There is ongoing engagement. We have given information in terms of the projects that are going to go ahead. As always, there is constant engagement with all parties to make sure we understand and deliver. We want to constantly deliver in terms of education in respect of our projects moving across the country. Deputies from all sides of the House have identified challenges that we have, no more so than in the previous Topical Issue matter I dealt with. There is ongoing engagement in the Department at all times in relation to how we can move other projects on. I will give a commitment that we will organise a meeting with all Deputies. I take the point that the Deputy has taken this issue out of the political domain and that he wants to have the entirety of the constituency involved in it. I take that point, so I will organise that meeting. The Deputy also again very forcibly raised other issues in Roscrea, in Coláiste Mhuire, in Newport and in relation to the school in Nenagh. I will go back, and then endeavour to come back to the Deputy directly on those issues. We will undertake to get a meeting as soon as possible. The education and training boards, ETBs, are doing huge work in terms of being the project managers for many projects across the country, and I thank them for that. I also thank the school communities the Deputy mentioned, and school communities the length and breadth of the country, for the amount of work they are doing. I refer to the leadership in the schools, the boards of management, and how they are trying to make sure they are giving the best possible education to their school communities. I thank the Deputy once again for raising these issues in relation to north Tipperary, and we will engage further on them.

Sentiment score: 0.30