I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food, Deputy Browne, to the House. This is a very important issue for Davitt College in Castlebar as it is an important facility for the students and people of Castlebar and the surrounding area. The college, which has over 700 students and an excellent teaching staff, is located in the centre of Castlebar. Attempts have been made over many years to secure funding for the proposed sports hall, which is badly needed by the college and the town.
In 1998, the then Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Martin, approved the allocation of £200,000 for a physical education hall which had been fully approved at a cost of approximately £1.5 million. The former Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Noel Dempsey, said there would be no queue jumping when he published a priority list for schools building projects in January 2003. Davitt College appeared in section 6 of the building projects list for large-scale post-primary schools. The then Minister announced in 2003 that the project would complete its current stage of architectural planning and proceed to construction in 2004, subject to financial constraints. As all planning stages were completed by Davitt College earlier this year, the project is now ready to go to tender. Although the Minister said there would not be any queue jumping in respect of the list which had been approved, a number of schools in counties Galway, Limerick and Meath came from nowhere in 2003 to overtake schools such as Davitt College. People are annoyed when such things happen.
I hope the Minister of State, Deputy Browne, will have good news for us this evening. In response to a parliamentary question asked by Deputy Kenny last March, the then Minister, Deputy Noel Dempsey, stated:
The budget announcement on multi-annual capital envelopes will enable me to adopt a framework for the building programme. It will give great clarity about projects that are not progressing in this year's programme, including Davitt College. I will make another announcement during the year.
I hope the Minister of State will make such an announcement this evening and that it will contain good news for Davitt College and the people of Castlebar. If not, the Minister's statement at the time will be seen as nothing more than a ploy in the run-up to this year's local elections.
The proposed sports hall is badly needed by an excellent school, Davitt College, and a large town, Castlebar. All the planning stages have been completed and the project is ready to go to tender. When will it go to tender?
