Schools Building Projects
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-20
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Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (SF), Cork South-Central

I appreciate the update. I hoped for a bit more regarding when we might get through the next phase. I appreciate that the Minister of State's Department does not have responsibility in that regard. I would appreciate if he could, on my behalf, bring this matter to the attention of the Minister. I note the presence of my constituency colleague the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, who is also keen to support the school. Perhaps he could use his good offices to contact the Department as well. The school wants to get past this stage. It wants to get to the point of being able to develop all the things that have been outlined in terms of value for money. That is fine; it all makes sense. It is absolutely the case. I have no doubt that the education and training board, which is a very professional and capable organisation, has all of that lined up.
Will the Minister of State bring a couple of things back to the Department. He stated, "The inclusion of a PE hall or general purpose dining hall depends on site feasibility, constraints and input from the local authority and heritage officer." The school and patron have amply demonstrated the fact that what is proposed is viable and can be delivered, either in the basement or on the roof of the building. They have offered potential designs in that regard.
This is a piece of community infrastructure. We are talking about bringing people into our cities to live, raise their families and work. The south parish does not have a huge number of community facilities. What is proposed here could be a resource for the wider community in that part of the inner-city centre, namely the south parish, as opposed to just the school.
At present, there are constraints on the ability to provide PE in the school. There is no place for people to have lunch on rainy days. Caithfimid freisin a thógáil san áireamh nach bhfuil go leor soláthair ann don mheánscolaíocht trí mheán na Gaeilge i gcathair Chorcaí. Níl ach trí mheánscoil i gcomparáid le hocht mbunscoil. Níl go leor áiteanna do leanaí ar mian leo dul go dtí an mheánscoil trí mheán na Gaeilge. There is not enough provision for Irish-medium secondary education. Expansion of this school is necessary to try in order to meet some of that growing demand across the city.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-20/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:31+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-20