Coláiste Mhuire Co-Ed is the only co-educational and multidenominational school in Thurles. It has DEIS status and is the only provider of autism spectrum disorder, ASD, classes to boys in Thurles. It is experiencing continual pressure to accommodate increasing enrolments since 2010. It has an enrolment of 500 post-primary students, which is an increase of 90% in the past six years. This enrolment does not include post-leaving certificate students. The school has reluctantly suppressed enrolments for the past three years. From 158 applications this coming academic year, the school has only been in a position to accept 120 students.

The Department of Education is incorrectly interpreting the demand for places based on the reduced enrolment by the school rather than the actual demand for places. Following a comprehensive analysis and despite the suppression of numbers, the school has confirmed a projected enrolment of 750 post-primary students.

The current building is 40 years old and is not fit for purpose. The roof is leaking, the school is trying to manage 37 leaks, suspended ceilings are collapsing regularly due to roof leaks and the flooring throughout the building is confirmed as a serious health and safety hazard. The entire building is in poor condition with an outdated and inefficient heating and energy system.

The Department keeps putting forward stopgap temporary solutions. Tipperary Education and Training Board has had ongoing interactions and significant discussions with the planning authority in securing permission for temporary units on the school site. There is grave reluctance on the part of the planning authority to grant permission for additional temporary units to be installed on the site. The planning authority has told it verbally and in writing that it is strongly of the view that the Department should be prioritising the replacement of the existing temporary units rather than installing more of them.

The cost-benefit analysis to rectify the countless design and structural issues clearly indicates that the most cost-effective option is to build a new school. Thankfully, all other schools in Thurles have benefited from significant infrastructural development over the past ten years. Coláiste Mhuire Co-Ed operates in a building constructed in 1981 that presents operational health and safety risks. It abjectly fails to comply with the normal standards of a modern post-primary campus. In a professional report commissioned by the board of management, many elements of the construction are described as having reached the end of their useful life. Any investment through the summer works scheme or an ad hoc investment is no longer a realistic or viable option. The accommodation needs of the school must be addressed with a new permanent structure.

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. The Deputy will recall that about a fortnight ago, he and Deputy Cahill accompanied me to the campus of Mary Immaculate Teacher Training College where we met the students and senior management. Clearly, the indications are that the authorities there would make a site on the campus available for such a new school. Deputies Lowry and Cahill advocated very strongly for that.

Deputy Lowry is aware that the project was approved for the school to provide additional accommodation comprising classrooms, accommodation for students with special educational needs and replacement of prefabs. This project had advanced to architectural planning stage. However, Tipperary Education and Training Board then asked the Department to reconsider the long-term needs of the school.

A proposal for a new school building on a greenfield site, which is essentially on the Mary Immaculate Teacher Training College campus, was received by the Department in March 2022. This necessitated a further comprehensive set of reports. These reports were provided by the education and training board to the Department in late October, which is less than a month ago. The Department has been reviewing and considering all of this information.

I spoke with the Minister for Education about this following my meeting with Deputies Cahill and Lowry about the optimal approach here and what could be exciting and have potential for the future. A meeting has been fixed for early December by the Department to discuss the accommodation needs of the school with a view to making an early decision in respect of its immediate and long-term needs. The Department agrees with the education and training board that the capital investment previously approved for the school needs to be increased - so the Department and the education and training board are at one there - so that the accommodation needs can be met.

The Department has also collated data relating to the most recent projections of school place requirements and has monitored the impact of the continuing arrival of Ukrainian students and other new arrivals in order to have the most complete picture possible. The Department's priority is to address critical school placement requirements, including for students with special educational needs. The accommodation needs of the school are being considered in that context. It is intended that a decision regarding the accommodation needs of the school will be made as soon as possible following the December meeting.

More generally, the Department is also committed to an energy retrofit programme for all schools built prior to 2008 in the context of meeting climate action goals. That may not be applicable in this case but is of general interest. A pilot pathfinder programme in conjunction with the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, is underway with a view to identifying viable and scalable solutions to roll out nationally. That is the current position.

I thank the Taoiseach for what is generally a positive and constructive approach. I ask that the matter be dealt with as a matter of urgency. It has been dragging on for a number of years. Coláiste Mhuire Co-Ed is a very successful and progressive school and the management and staff there have been outstanding. They are delivering excellence in education under extremely difficult circumstances. The board of management is constantly refusing entry to children and parents are asking why. Under the current restrictions, parents are unable to access the school of their choice in the Thurles area and this must be rectified.

The Department must recognise that the school needs and deserves proper accommodation and facilities. I have gone through this with everybody involved. The only solution is a new school. Adding extensions and using ad hoc temporary solutions is a waste of public money. We need a new school either on the existing site or as proposed, on the Mary Immaculate College campus in Thurles. Could the Taoiseach ask the officials to give it priority?

When I met Deputies Lowry and Cahill in Thurles, I was very taken by the presentation by the authorities of Mary Immaculate College and its vision of a synergy between second-level education, further education and third-level education all on the one campus. This has potential. I have spoken to the Minister for Education. I am conscious that the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform is sitting two or three seats up from me. To be fair, he has given a lot of green lights to education. The school accommodation programme has been over-expended. We have said let us keep building the schools if we can. I am sure the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform understands the potential this site now offers. I have been persuaded by Deputies Lowry and Cahill. Obviously, it has to be examined and put into the framework. A lot of money is going to be spent anyway on the existing project so it is just doing the right thing for the long term. The Minister and the officials are saying they will make a decision as soon as possible.

I look forward to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform visiting us.