Last week, I spoke about the need for infrastructure in north Kildare. Today I am speaking specifically about the need for more school infrastructure. Earlier this year, I visited St. Patrick's National School in Celbridge, which has been operating out of temporary prefabs for the past 18 years. It is planned that the school will be part of a new three-school campus along with St. Raphael's Special School and Celbridge Community School. The new campus has been delayed. It should have been in place by now but we have not got there. There are students who entered the school's prefabs on their first day in junior infants and have graduated from sixth class. I appreciate temporary buildings are needed but they are by nature temporary rather than permanent. On my visit to the school, I saw at first hand the dedication of the school community. I also saw the prefabs and the impact they have had on the school over the past 18 years.

The big question on the lips of many parents from Celbridge to Naas, and from Maynooth to Kilcock, is where their children will go to secondary school next year. That is also a serious issue. I have two asks today. Can we ensure that in the capital plan there are additional places for new secondary and primary schools in north Kildare? More importantly, can we have an answer on the three-school campus?

I thank the Deputy for raising this and for his ongoing focus on infrastructure delivery in north Kildare following our discussion in the House last week. It is our collective priority to ensure every child in the State has access to a school place. I know the Department of Education and Youth, and the Minister, Deputy McEntee, are working hard on that. We remain determined to do that. Kildare is an interesting county in the sense that you can see enough school places in the county as whole. Of course, as the Deputy has pointed out they are not spread equally across the county. There are pinch points, particularly in the part of Kildare represented by the Deputy. That is why the roll-out of the pilot Apply to School system marks a significant step forward in sharing information. I hope that can be rolled out nationwide. That also includes Celbridge. The Celbridge campus project has been devolved for delivery to the National Development Finance Agency. There are three schools within the campus project, St. Raphael's Special School, Celbridge Community School and Scoil Naomh Pádraig. In March, the Department formally approved the project to progress to stage 2A of the architectural design process. This involved the design team developing the design, fully costing the planning of the campus project and preparing the necessary documentation. The NDFA will be continuing to engage with the school authorities. I will ask the Minister to get an updated timeline for the Deputy.