Schools Building Projects
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-26
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Darren O'Rourke (SF), Meath East

I think the Minister of State has made my case for me. One TD after another will say that their local school or a school in their constituency should be included when it comes to funding under the NDP. Very few - I would suggest none - would say that the planning permission is about to expire and that the project, through no fault of the school, has been to the brink and back on two occasions. Covid interrupted this project. It was interrupted again in light of other circumstances. This school is in desperate need. Very particular circumstances obtain in the context of Dunboyne junior and senior national schools here. Will the Minister of State bring those circumstances to the attention of the Minister, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton? The Minister of State has the details of how far advanced the project was before it was pulled back and of how far it was advanced again before demands were made by the Department in relation to decarbonisation. It is almost back to square one again. If this project does not proceed, there is a risk that the planning permission will expire in a handful of months.
I have a written response from the Minister which states, "My department is conscious that the planning permission for the project ... will expire in August 2026 and the Department will work with the school authorities to identify an appropriate pathway forward". Will the Minister of State please explain what that means? As he will appreciate, the real concern is that the planning permission will expire, and then the whole school community will be back to square one. In the context of all the additional information on how we are going to spend funding in the future and identify priority projects for further tranches, this project will not be considered. I am asking that this project be put on the list of tranche 1 funding in light of the particular circumstances involved.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-26/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:47+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-26