Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach Gníomhach as ucht an deis labhairt ar an gceist thábhachtach agus phráinneach seo a bhaineann ní hamháin le Gaelscoil Chluain Dolcáin ach le Gaelscoil na Camóige i mo Dháilcheantar. Tá an t-ádh dearg ar Chluain Dolcáin go bhfuil dhá Ghaelscoil den scoth againn, ach turas fada a bhí ann do Ghaelscoil na Camóige foirgneamh buan a bhaint amach, foirgneamh atá anois á thógáil. Tá Gaelscoil Chluain Dolcáin lán go béal agus an foirgneamh nua sin ag teastáil. Today, I am speaking on behalf of Gaelscoil Chluain Dolcáin about an issue that not only affects it but also affects Gaelscoil na Camóige in my constituency. We are lucky in Clondalkin to have two excellent Gaelscoilleanna in Gaelscoil na Camóige and Gaelscoil Chluain Dolcáin. I am an alumnus of Coláiste Chilliain, which will also be on the same campus. Gaelscoil na Camóige has had a long journey to finally arrive at its permanent building, which is being constructed at this moment, while Gaelscoil Chluain Dolcáin is full and needs the new space and needs the space that is part of the school building project. The reason I am here today is because a decision has been taken by the Department in the past few months that will adversely affect not only the growth of those schools but also the identity of those schools as well. I am standing here in the Dáil today to ask for a revision of that decision or at least consideration of what it will mean for both schools. It was agreed that both these schools would be 16-classroom buildings and that was the initial project that was agreed on. However, at planning stage, following a request from the Department, both schools agreed to include extensions for two additional classrooms that would facilitate special education classrooms. The Minister of State and I know that this is a priority for the Government in terms of delivering those spaces. The schools were then informed earlier this year that those special education classrooms would not proceed on the basis of budget issues but what is surprising to me is that they were told that projected demographic trends would be the issue underpinning the reason for not requiring those additional rooms. The alternative that was put to those schools was that Gaelscoil Chluain Dolcáin could use some of the empty classrooms in Gaelscoil na Camóige, thus necessitating travel between the two schools. Clondalkin is right beside a new strategic development zone in Clonburris and it is in one of the fastest-growing constituencies in the State, Dublin Mid-West. There is a very clear and apparent need for schools and, more important, there is a clear and apparent demand for Gaelscoileanna agis oideachas trí mheán na Gaeilge. This needs to be acknowledged. In addition, we also know that there is a need to rapidly address the provision of special educational places in all schools in the greater Clondalkin area. There is provision required for special educational needs, SEN, classrooms. With both of those matters in mind, we know that Gaelscoil na Camóige will reach full capacity in a number of years. We know that new estates such as Seven Mills and all the others being built inside the Clonburris strategic development zone will have new families moving into them whose children will require access to education. I hope many them avail of the opportunity to achieve oideachas trí mheán na Gaeilge. I am concerned that this is a short-sighted decision that is limiting the possible expansion of Gaelscoil na Camóige and that is not taking account of demographic trends. I accept the Department's bona fides with regard to the overall need for education falling nationally but in the rapidly growing areas adjacent to Clonburris, namely Clondalkin, Lucan and Adamstown, that is not the case. It is quite the reverse. We are going to have a greater demand for school places. Oideachas trí mheán na Gaeilge is very important. Oideachtas speisialta na Gaeilge is equally important. In an area such as Cluain Dolcáin that has a líonra Gaeilge status, it is important that it is treasured and honoured in the buildings that are put in place. Planning approval has been secured for the SEN extensions. That will lapse within four years if we do not take action in respect of it immediately. I am asking that the decision that has been made be reconsidered and that we save the money that we are going to have to spend in a few years' time when we have to construct the extra buildings in order to make the additional provision that we know is coming down the track and that South Dublin County Council has been told to take into account in terms of revising its zoning projections for the population growth in the area in the future. I look forward to the Minister of State's response.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue because it gives me the opportunity, on behalf of the Minister for Education and Youth, to outline to the Dáil the position regarding Gaelscoil Chluain Dolcáin in County Dublin. Gaelscoil Chluain Dolcáin is under the patronage of the Archbishop of Dublin. It is located in the Clondalkin-D22 school planning area and has an enrolment of 445 pupils. The Department of Education and Youth is delivering a large-scale major project to provide adjoining new permanent accommodation for both Gaelscoil Chluain Dolcáin and another primary school on the same site. Construction on this project is well advanced, with an expected completion date in the fourth quarter of this year. The school authorities were advised that it was necessary to make provision for special education at the two school buildings due to the significantly increased demand for special classes in their school planning area. The Department examined various options for how best to meet this need including the feasibility of expanding the current scale of the project. However, due to the availability of spare classrooms in the current overall school project and the projected falling mainstream demographics at primary level, the Department decided that the use of these spare mainstream classrooms for special education provision was consistent with the education and youth sector Sectoral Capital Plan 2026-2030. This decision was outlined to the school authorities in detail at a meeting with Department officials in January 2026. While the national development plan, NDP, funding of €7.5 billion for school capital projects is substantial, the Department must manage the progression of a large pipeline of projects and meet the substantially increased need for special education provision within this funding. The Department prioritises projects to balance urgency, equity and available resources, ensuring that investments are sustainable and provide maximum value for money. This includes the optimum use of existing accommodation, particularly surplus accommodation. This allows the Department to keep a strong focus on the provision of additional capacity to cater for demographics, new housing developments and the roll-out of additional special classes for children with additional needs. This approach reflects the Department's fundamental objective of ensuring the availability of a school place for every child. Since 2020, the Department has provided over €1,824 million in capital funding for Dublin schools. Over this period, a total of 245 schools have been upgraded through provision of a new school building, a large-scale extension or provision of modular accommodation. There are currently 60 school projects in Dublin under construction. I assure the Deputy that the Department of Education and Youth will support the schools in the practical arrangements for implementing this decision and has organised a meeting between the school authorities and the project's design team in order to explore practical solutions to address issues raised by the schools. Department officials remain committed to working with the school authorities in relation to this matter. I also assure the Deputy that the Department will keep the ongoing position relating to the demand for places in the Clondalkin-D22 school planning area under review. While the Department is aware of enrolment pressures and demand for additional school places in some areas, it is important to note that enrolment pressures can be driven by duplication of applications, applications from outside an area and school-of-choice factors. The Department will continue to liaise with local authorities in respect of their county development plan and any associated local area plans with a view to identifying any potential long-term school accommodation requirements across school planning areas.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as ucht an fhreagra sin. Tuigim nach féidir leis an Aire oideachais a bheith anseo tráthnóna. With the greatest respect, the general point is being missed here. I am not talking about enrolment pressures. I am talking about the fact that South Dublin County Council has been told to rezone land on the basis of increased baseline population growth. We are then told in the same answer that the D22 school planning area is not necessarily taking account of the foreseen population growth that will be in this area. We know we will be coming back here again looking for possibly modular buildings on a school site with two buildings that have planning permission for the extensions that they were asked to consider last July. This is the opportunity for us to get this right and to get the school buildings in place now rather than limiting the growth of Gaelscoil na Camóige in the future in order to ensure that Gaelscoil Chluain Dolcáin has the space it needs to continue to thrive and, importantly, to champion and to ensure that the facility and the option exists for parents who want to send their children to a Gaelscoil to either receive mainstream education or special education, that they can do so trí mheán na Gaeilge and that there will not be an artificial cap put on the growth of either of those in this instance. We know that the patron has previously indicated concerns around special educational provision in that general area. When it comes to the question of the practicalities of moving between the schools, I have to ask the Department in all seriousness how it will manage a situation where it has two classes from one school being educated in another. How are they going to manage that in terms of health and safety? While they are on the same site, they are two different buildings. More importantly, they are two different schools. In particular, Gaelscoil na Camóige has waited a long time to have its permanent building. Gaelscoil Chluain Dolcáin has an identity in its own right. While I welcome the Department is willing to look at practical options, the better option here is for it to get the extension that has planning approval put in place, not to find ourselves going back to the well in possibly less than two years' time when people and families start moving into Clonburris. I urge the Department to reconsider this decision and to work with the school authorities, the patrons and the boards of management to reinstate what was there and to make practical arrangements for growth that we know is going to happen in those populations in the future.

Once again, I thank the Deputy for providing me with the opportunity, on behalf of the Minister for education, to outline the position in relation to Gaelscoil Chluain Dolcáin. The Deputy asked me to refer this to the Minister on his behalf. I can promise that I will certainly do so because I can see that it is an issue of real concern, for the Deputy and, I presume, many of his constituents. I will do that. The Deputy will be aware that the Minister, Deputy Naughton, recently published the €7.55 billion NDP sectoral investment plan for the education and youth sectors. Of the total €7.55 billion investment, it is envisaged that circa €5 billion will be used for project roll-out to support the delivery and modernisation of school buildings across the large-scale additional accommodation and modular programmes. The Deputy will appreciate that the Department is required to ensure that the capital funding allocated to the Department is managed across all schools in the country. Indeed, a significant project has been approved for the school in question and will shortly be available for the school's use. As previously stated, Department officials remain available to work school authorities. That is what the Deputy is asking here, and I can tell him that is what it says in the response. They will provide support in any arrangements required to implement the decision regarding their new accommodation. Finally, I assure the Deputy that the accommodation demands and enrolment pressures of both the schools in question, as well as the wider school area planning, will be kept under ongoing review by the Department. As he will be aware, the project brief for this campus project includes construction of two new adjoining 16-classroom primary schools, with a PE hall for a separate post-primary school on a shared campus. I note the most recent nationwide demographic analysis I spoke of earlier was completed in 2023.

I want to raise the issue of children in my constituency who are currently attending the Finglas Parochial National School. These children have additional needs and should be prioritised and yet do not have the classes they were promised and for which the school was sanctioned in 2024. These children are spending two hours a day in a community hall and this is not good enough. These children should be in classrooms receiving the education they have a constitutional right to and which they need. I was at a public meeting in Finglas last night where the parents again outlined the devastating impact of their children not getting the full education they need, as well as their despair and concern because the promised delivery to the school could now be in 2027. This is an absolutely unacceptable delay in terms of delivery of that classroom. Can the Minister of State outline what is going to be done in this regard? It appears, from talking to different groups involved and in speaking directly to the building unit of the Department of education today, that there has been a failure in ensuring timely delivery, planning and information. Moreover, it seems to have fallen between the Department and the company that was taken on to deliver this. Regardless, the responsibility to ensure these children have the education to which they have a constitutional right falls with the Department. It is the Department of education and the Minister who is responsible in ensuring they get that education. To give some examples of what the parents spoke about last night and in the media about how challenging it is, one parent, Rebekah Clarke, said that she had to reduce her hours to try to manage her son Arlo's shorter school day. She said: I had to come down to part-time and I have to work a weekend day so I can bring him to school. We've had to change our life dramatically, trying to find someone to mind him. It's not easy. Parents explained how they thought that school place for their child would provide the relief they need but we also heard from other parents on that. For two hours a day, they have to come over and travel to leave the child. They literally walk around Finglas to then pick up the child again within a couple of hours. People are losing their jobs. In those two hours, the children are getting incredible care from the school principal, teachers and the school. They do not want to have to try to find somewhere else now. The children have made relationships with the teachers. Children with autism and additional needs need routine. They need that bond and relationship they build over time and they have that. Why, in God's name, are we not ensuring these children are in proper classrooms by this September? Surely, the Department and Minister can guarantee that. There is no reason why not; it is still months away. As regards planning, this needs to go through. They will and should get it for the modular classes. I have spoken to the building unit. It is saying that it will hopefully be quarter 3 of this year when that will be delivered. We need a guarantee that these children will be in the classrooms in the buildings to be built in September this year.

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter, which I am answering on behalf of the Minister for Education and Youth, Deputy Naughton. Just like the previous Deputy, I hear the passion in his voice and local knowledge, as well as his understanding of what is at issue for the many families and children there. I guarantee that I will bring it to the attention of the Minister. Aside from that, the Government is committed to the provision of additional special places for children with special educational needs. Budget 2026 secured funding for 3,000 new specialist places in special schools and special classes, and the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, is currently examining where these places are best located for the 2026-27 school year. Over 2,700 new places were provided in the 2025-26 school year, meaning there are now 3,741 special classes nationwide. We will continue to build on this figure while placing provision in locations where it is best placed to meet existing and future demand. As the Deputy is aware, an earlier notification deadline was introduced this year to support forward planning and to earlier equip the NCSE with local information as to what students would be leaving school or transitioning to post-primary specialist places or regarding those seeking specialist placement and entering the education system for the first time. This information is critical when examining where provision needs to be placed to meet demand. The Department and the NCSE continue to work closely with school patron bodies, school management bodies and schools to confirm new special classes for the next school year 2026-27. The NCSE began sanctioning new special classes last month, which is several months earlier than last year. A total of 387 have been sanctioned to date and many more new special classes will be confirmed in the coming weeks. A total of 85 of these new classes are being provided in County Dublin, and six of them are in the Dublin North-West constituency. As for the modular project for Finglas Parochial National School, the application for planning permission was submitted and the local authority requested further information, which was submitted to them in January 2026. The local authority has recently requested clarification on the further information submission, and I can say this is being submitted to them today. As I said, I hear what the Deputy has said about the huge challenge this presents for parents and families and perhaps, the knowledge that at least this level of progress has been made may be of some assistance to them. The project itself will be delivered as quickly as possible after receipt of planning permission, and with the support of project managers. The earlier sanction of new classes provides clarity for parents and allows schools more time for the planning and establishment of new special classes. As I said, budget 2026 has provided significant funding for over 400 new special classes. I wish to stress that the NCSE will continue to support all children made known to it after this date. However, it is important for planning purposes that an earlier timeframe is worked to in which the NCSE has as much local knowledge and detail as possible in order to plan what new provision is required.

I thank the Minister of State. I reiterate that it is absolutely unacceptable that children are left for two hours a day - this is their education – in a community hall. The teachers have to re-set up every time. They do not have the proper toileting or sensory spaces. These are not appropriate school places. It is unfair. As one parent said last night, it is cruel for the Department and NCSE to be sanctioning and allocating school places that then are not actually being delivered. There is a real issue here. It is leading parents up the garden path. They are putting their lives on hold and taking places that then do not appear. It is unfair and not right. These parents need to have that building delivered, particularly given what has happened with the delays. I commend the Equality in Education campaign, the school principal, the teachers and the parents who have spoken out in the media this week to highlight this. It was deeply unfair that they had to speak out. It puts more pressure on parents who are already struggling, but they were right to speak up. Again, this has put pressure on, and it is making it a priority. I am making it a priority by saying here very clearly that I will not be letting this go. I will be pushing as hard as I can to ensure that the Department ensures that the school building is done and in place for this September, so those children have the education they deserve and need. These children, along with all children, need it. The fact that they are left there like this is wrong. The parents have asked for a meeting to be held within a week with the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, the school, the company and the planners to set out not only that the planning is done, but that this school is delivered on time. It cannot be delayed any more.

I thank the Deputy again for raising the question and giving me the opportunity to reassure the House that the Department of Education and Youth and the NCSE are committed to ensuring that all children can access an education suitable to their needs. The Department continues to engage intensively with the NCSE in regard to the forward planning for new special provision to ensure every child has a place in an educational setting best suited to their educational needs. It is important to remember that the vast majority of students with special educational needs are supported to attend school in mainstream classes with their peers. Central to this are the 15,000 special education teachers and 12,500 special needs assistants allocated to mainstream settings. For children with more complex needs, special classes or special school places are provided. This is in keeping with the policy on inclusive education, which provides that children will be supported to receive an education in the most inclusive setting possible. In County Dublin, 705 special classes are now in operation, providing capacity for 4,230 students, and that includes 103 new special classes for this school year. I hear what the Deputy is saying. He is concerned about a specific school and the needs of the students and families there. I fully understand that. Hopefully, based on the information that I gave earlier, the further clarification that had been requested by the local authority was submitted to it today. Although I do not know, I hope that speeds up the process for the delivery of this project. I am sure the Deputy has already been in contact with the Minister with regard to the need for a meeting.

I thank the Minister of State for taking this Topical debate. This is the second time I have raised a Topical matter about three primary schools, St. John Bosco Junior Boys School, St. John Bosco Senior Boys School and Mary Help of Christians Girls National School. I want to focus on the long delay in the rebuild project for these three schools. The schools are just off the Navan Road in Dublin 7, and serve the communities of Ashtown and the Navan Road. They are great schools, and my colleague Councillor Feljin Jose and I have visited them. They are operating out of incredibly old and rundown buildings. There are musty prefabs, single-glazed windows and kids learning in cold classrooms. They are three distinct schools, but the three schools have come together with the vision of having an educational campus on the site. I am sure the Minister of State knows that bringing together three separate schools with three separate management structures is a real challenge, but the schools are so committed to this project that they have done it, and they have come together. However, there are two big problems. First, this project is not on the list of priority school projects from the 2026-27 list that the Government launched with great fanfare in January of this year. Second, and more immediately, there seems to be a real blockage in advancing this vital project past stage 2A of the school design project. I was in contact with the three schools and with parents from the schools in late 2024 and across all of last year. In December of last year, I was able to hold a Topical debate in the House, in particular on the Department's delay in holding that stage 2A meeting with the schools’ design team. At the time, the Minister was not able to give me a date for when that vital stage 2A meeting would happen between the Department and the schools’ design team. We are now three months on from that Topical debate. I had a parliamentary question in two weeks ago, and I also wrote directly to the Minister, Deputy Naughton, two weeks ago. In the replies I got to those queries, I still have not been able to get a date for that meeting. Of course, in January, we saw that long-awaited list of the priority projects, and this project was not on it. The parents and the school saw that, and they noticed that they are not seen as a priority now. I have no doubt the Minister of State has a lengthy reply from the Department. I am sure it will recount a long history of engagement between the Department and the relevant schools. With respect, I know the history. We do not need to go through all of that this evening. What I really want to know is, first, what the date is for the long-delayed meeting between the schools’ design team and the Department of education so they can move past the stage 2A process and, second, how this project can get on the Government's priority list. It is 6 p.m. on a Thursday. Anything else is not really of huge relevance right now. Will the Minister of State give me a date for this meeting? Will she tell me how the redevelopment of these three schools can get on the priority list?

I thank the Deputy for the question. It is clear that he has been in the position I am in now, and he understands the circumstances. I must give him the response that I have been provided with. In whatever way I can, I will try to address the Deputy’s questions. They give me the opportunity, on behalf of the Minister, to outline the current position in relation to the joint school project for St. John Bosco Junior Boys School, St. John Bosco Senior Boys School and Mary Help of Christians Girls National School, all in Dublin 7. This joint school building project will deliver two new 16-classroom primary schools with additional classrooms for children with special educational needs for both the senior boys' school and the girls' school, and a new 11-classroom primary school with additional classrooms for children with special educational needs for the junior boys' school. Initially, as the Deputy pointed out, it had been anticipated that this joint project would be delivered in the form of an extension and refurbishment. However, due to a scope change to include an increase in the number of classrooms for children with special educational needs, it was decided that new school buildings would be provided. The design team submitted the initial stage 1 report in April 2023, and following the submission of an addendum report in August 2023, the project was approved to the next stage. The design team submitted its stage 2A submission report in January 2024. Upon review, some key concerns were identified by the Department. From January 2024 to May 2025, there was significant communication between the design team and the Department to discuss and assist in progressing the stage 2A submission to include a review and audit of the floor area schedules, and to refine some design elements to meet the approved schedule of accommodation. Upon receipt of the revised stage 2A report, Department officials carried out an initial review, and in early June 2025, a further meeting was held, with the wider design team, school authorities and Department officials in attendance. At that meeting, the school was provided with a progress update and advised that the design team was due to submit an addendum stage 2A report to the Department. The outstanding information for the addendum stage 2A report was received by the Department on 31 October last year and is under review by Department officials. 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 the Deputy is aware, as part of this 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. In relation to the project roll-out for 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 to provide necessary additional capacity through targeted and prioritised project roll-out over the course of 2026 to 2030. Deputy O'Gorman asked about a date for a meeting with the school design team and how one gets on the priority list. I suspect that virtually every TD in the Dáil would like an answer to that question. That does not take away from the fact that he wants and needs it and these schools need to hear about it. I will pass on his request to the Minister and, hopefully, she will be able to give him some assistance.

I thank the Minister of State for her response. I recognise that she is responding on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Naughton, and she is from a different Department. I am disappointed with the response she provided from the Department of education. Again, there has been a failure to give a date for this really important meeting between the Department and the school's design team. There is a consequence to this delay because due to the addendum report, which was given almost five months ago - officials in the Department were not being given the full detail on 31 October; they were being given an extra piece of information that they sought – the school missed the opportunity to be on the 2026-2027 priority list. There is a clear consequence to the fact that this addendum report has not been fully reviewed by the Department and that the meeting did not take place. That consequence is that it is now likely that this school will not even get funding until post-2027. These three schools have been ready and willing to take this important step, advance this project, and give kids in three really good schools a better condition of education. It is really disappointing at this stage. The delay has real consequences. It is pushing back the ability of this project to be delivered in the lifetime of many of the students who are currently in these schools in those cold classrooms. The Minister of State has indicated that she will ask the Minister for education, Deputy Naughton, to come back to me in writing with a date. That is all I can ask for today. I will continue to ask for this because I do not think this level of delay for just one meeting is acceptable.

I thank the Deputy. I recognise there are schools with important building projects that are not included in the first tranche of prioritised projects. As part of planning ahead for the next tranche of projects to progress to tender, the Department-led prioritisation process will continue over the course of 2026 and 2027 to assess and evaluate the progression of individual projects through the design pipeline, having regard to the continual need to maximise existing capacity and determine the prioritised need going forward. This process will involve engagement with key stakeholders and individual schools and will ultimately inform the next tranche of programme roll-out to tender. The Department-led energy and condition survey of the school estate which will be finalised later in 2026 will provide an additional evidence base for assessing priorities. Based on this ongoing prioritisation process, some projects may be added to the list over the course of 2026 and 2027, having regard to their prioritisation and urgency of need and taking account also of the ongoing ability to progress them to tender and construction within the parameters of overall funding. Where appropriate, the Department will also assess opportunities to undertake advance enabling works for the most urgent and complex projects to facilitate a smooth progress to construction in 2028 and beyond. I promise I will ask the Minister the question the Deputy posed to me.

I rise in the Chamber tonight to once again try to get to some solutions to the car park the N7-M7 has become. People are spending their lives in cars. They drive for three hours every morning to work and drive back home for three hours every evening. Some people leave their home at 6.30 a.m. Some leave their home at 5.30 a.m. to try to beat the traffic. They spend an hour or an hour and a half in their work car parks to avail of some time and to try to avoid what is happening on the roads. I am asking the Minister of State tonight to look at park and ride. We were told the NTA park and ride development had established an office, arising from a recommendation relating to the climate action plan, with a view to advancing strategic park-and-ride facilities to take people out of their private cars and give them a public transport option such as a bus service into the capital. In a recent reply I received, I was told by the NTA that two specific sites have been identified on the M7-M9 corridor – one at Kill, which was to provide 500 parking spaces and one in Naas-Sallins, which was to provide 1,000 parking spaces. The reply goes on to say that the work at Kill was well advanced and was progressing very well until some problems arose with the land developer. That work now seems to have stalled. The reply states the NTA is now working on the Sallins option for 1,000 car parking spaces in and around Sallins train station. In the reply I received, the NTA also stated that it needs to put in enhanced railway infrastructure closer to Dublin city centre to maximise the potential of such a facility but it will go ahead with some design at the Sallins location. These replies are totally and utterly disheartening because not alone do we need park-and-ride facilities at Sallins and Kill but we also need them at other locations along the M9 in particular. As I came to Dáil Éireann this morning I passed 11 cars parked at the Ballitore interchange, which is a daily occurrence. Normally, we would get up to 20 cars at that location. These are people who are car pooling and going to Dublin who park on the side of the road. It is a similar situation at the Castledermot interchange on the M9 where 20 cars could also be parked. Kildare County Council promised over a long period while I was on it that we would see park-and-ride facilities at these locations but there is no mention in the replies of any facilities at those locations. We have people spending three hours in their cars each morning. One cannot contemplate the mental torture that is putting on people coming in every day. They are not getting home in time to see their families and they are stuck in traffic every day. The Government seems to be very slow coming up with solutions. The solutions I have been told about in relation to Sallins are now only beginning to progress to a design stage, which means that we are probably years away from having park-and-ride facilities. There is no mention of the Ballitore or Castledermot interchanges. What we need to hear tonight from the Government is that there is progress. We need the Government to deal realistically with the problem. There may have been a meeting in the Department of Transport in recent days and I hope as a result of it that we will get some solutions for all those who are trapped in their cars on the M7 and the M9.

I am happy to take this Topical Issue on behalf of the Minister for Transport. I thank the Deputy for the opportunity to address the issue in the House this evening. Improving public transport services and infrastructure is central to improving citizens' quality of life and addressing our climate action challenge. The Government is committed to a fundamental change in the nature of transport in Ireland. There is a substantial number of people in regional towns, the rural hinterland and in the metropolitan area who do not have ease of access to high-quality public transport by walking or cycling. Appropriately located and designed park-and-ride facilities can enable them to access public transport and enhance their options to reach a wide range of destinations in a sustainable manner. The National Transport Authority, NTA, has responsibility for planning and developing park-and-ride sites. It is leading the development and roll-out of strategic park-and-ride sites nationwide through the park and ride development office, which was established in 2020. Within this policy framework, the transport strategy for the greater Dublin area for 2022 to 2042 has identified various zones of intervention along corridors on the approach to Dublin city. They include two park-and-ride sites along the M7, namely, a rail-based park-and-ride facility in Sallins, which will provide 1,000 extra parking spaces, and a bus-based park-and-ride facility in Kill, with an extra 500 spaces. Significant work has already been undertaken to advance proposals for the 500-space bus-based strategic park-and-ride site at Kill. However, the project remains at preliminary design stage owing to the landowner having withdrawn from negotiations in respect of the NTA's preferred site. Work on the Kill project will continue during 2026 as resources and funding permit. The proposed Sallins facility is listed as a priority project within the NTA's greater Dublin area transport strategy, which also includes the planned extension, in the longer term, of high-capacity, high-frequency electrified DART services to Sallins and Naas. The park-and-ride site will integrate with the DART+ programme and services when both projects are completed. larnród Éireann is also working to deliver increased parking at rail stations nationwide. This includes recently completed works at Kildare and ongoing preliminary design work for Athy and Carlow. Works at Newbridge and Hazelhatch have been identified as medium-term objectives. In addition, larnród Éireann is currently in the process of updating its national car park strategy, which may identify further station locations along the M7 and M9 catchment area.

I really appreciate the Minister of State taking time to come to the House this evening. I acknowledge that this issue does not come under the remit of her Department. The work done at Kildare town train station is very welcome but the new car park is already full. Drivers cannot get into it every morning. People have told me they cannot use Kildare town train station because the car park was not designed to accommodate the traffic going into it. This is what the Government and the NTA have put forward as a fundamental change in commuting. We all support public transport. There is absolutely no doubt about that. I have been calling for more public transport for Kildare South for a long time, including hourly commuter services to Athy and further on to Carlow. In a reply I received recently, Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, stated the problems at the M7-M9 junction were related to congestion on the roads and that the number of accidents there was directly correlated to that congestion. TII is telling us the problem is congestion and the NTA is saying it has medium- to long-term solutions. Unfortunately for the people of Kildare South, they are left with no option but to hop into the car every morning and spend up to six hours trying to get to work in Dublin. We need a Government policy on remote working that would allow those people, including up to 5,000 civil servants working in Dublin, to work more often from home. Increasingly, however, they are being called back to the office. If we are not getting park-and-ride facilities in the short term, which the Minister of State's reply tells us is the case, I ask that she encourage the Minister for Transport to promote the idea of remote working for the civil servants in his Department who are having to come into the office for extra days. The Government must take a leading approach on that. There are other solutions as well, as proposed previously by the Labour Party. Unfortunately, the Government voted down those proposals in a recent motion I brought to the House.

As I noted in my reply, the NTA is progressing park-and-ride sites at Sallins and Kill, which together will provide more than 1,500 additional car parking spaces, as part of its co-ordinated programme of park-and-ride development at strategic locations. In addition to this work, collaborative work is ongoing with Iarnród Éireann to deliver increased parking at existing rail stations nationally. That includes the recently completed works at Kildare. I acknowledge what the Deputy said about that car park not being sufficient to accommodate the number of cars currently seeking to use it. The work also includes ongoing preliminary design work for Athy and Carlow, with works at Newbridge and Hazel being identified as mid-term objectives. If there are lessons to be learned from what happened in Kildare, I hope those lessons will, indeed, be learned. Iarnród Éireann is also updating its national car park strategy, which may identify further locations along the M7 and M9 catchment area. Collectively, these projects will support reduced car dependency, lower congestion and improve public transport accessibility for commuters travelling into the greater Dublin area. As far as other projects are concerned, the NTA is currently working with TII on the feasibility of bus priority measures for the N7 corridor, which most likely will be in the form of hard-shoulder bus running. Enhanced bus priority would make bus-based trips along the corridor more desirable and would also support the delivery of bus-based park-and-ride schemes. Iarnród Éireann is also looking at delivering increased parking at existing rail stations nationally. I have already mentioned those stations and will not go through them again. I thank the Deputy for raising this issue.

I thank the Minister of State.