In September 2022, the Minister for Education visited the Educate Together school in Castlebar. Amid much fanfare and photographs, a promise was made to the children, parents and teachers that they would be provided with a new school. At the time, the Minister asked them to provide a shortlist of suitable sites, which the school did immediately afterwards. Some 18 months later and the response we have is that the sites are still being considered. That is not acceptable. Last week, hundreds of children and parents gathered in Castlebar to ask that the Government takes this in hand and provides the school that was promised. At the moment the school is operating on three campuses. This means there are 120 primary schoolchildren on three campuses criss-crossing Castlebar and it is just not acceptable. The school has identified a suitable site. I ask the Tánaiste to speak to the Minister for Education and ask her to progress the matter as quickly as possible.

The school building programme is at record levels. This year, the Minister has again secured substantial additional funding to try to progress a range of projects across the programme. I will certainly raise the specific case. Site acquisition can often be the slowest part of any school project. I will talk to the Minister in this regard.