Ceisteanna ó na Comhaltaí Eile - Other Members’ Questions
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-19
============================================================

Peter 'Chap' Cleere (FF), Carlow-Kilkenny

I am delighted to hear that additional funding will be made available. I look forward to engaging with the Tánaiste to deliver these projects. In Carlow, schools like Borris College and St. Mary's Academy CBS are under pressure. The projects are ready to go. They just need the green light from the Department. If we move over to Kilkenny, the situation is just as concerning. Kilkenny City Vocational School and Coláiste Pobail Osraí are waiting on their new shared campus. Castlecomer Community College and Coláiste Abhainn Rí in Callan have been excluded from the last round of Government funding. These schools are operating at full capacity, and delays only make conditions worse. St. Senan’s National School in Kilmacow and Church Hill National School are ready to go. We have the magnificent St. Kieran's College, which, again, has a project ready to go. Its pupils were all-Ireland champions again on St. Patrick's Day, their 26th title, so hurling is strong, alive and well in Kilkenny, the Tánaiste and the House will be glad to hear.
If we are serious about education, we cannot continue to delay investment where it is clearly needed. Students deserve a safe, modern space to learn, not uncertainty and overcrowding. It is time for action. I welcome the Tánaiste's comment that additional funding is going to be made available. It is time that these schools get the funding they urgently require.

---

Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-19/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:45+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-19