Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 28 November 2018
43. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the site acquisition to accommodate a campus (details supplied); the timeline of works to ensure that the campus is completed as soon as possible; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49218/18]
View answerThis is the first time I have engaged with the Minister in the Chamber since he was appointed. I congratulate him and wish him well in his new role.
My question regards a matter of great interest to his and my home country, namely, the status of the site acquisition for the Crana College three-school campus. What is the status of the project in terms of the capital plan?
I thank the Deputy for his good wishes. We have worked closely together on this issue for too long. We are on the same hymn sheet in terms of trying to get the issue resolved as a matter of priority. I look forward to continued engagement on the issue. As the Deputy is aware, the education campus project to which he refers is included in my Department's capital programme 2016 to 2021 and the money required will be ring-fenced.
Negotiations with the landowner in respect of the preferred site option to accommodate the campus are under way. The Deputy will appreciate that negotiations in respect of site acquisitions are, by their nature, sensitive and for that reason I am not in a position to provide further information at this time. However, I assure him that all parties are working to bring matters to a conclusion at the earliest possible date and Department officials will continue to keep the relevant school authorities appraised of progress. In that regard, a meeting between school authorities and Department officials has been arranged for later this week.
When the site acquisition is complete, the next stage of the process involves the project for the campus progressing to architectural planning. At this stage it is premature to give a timeframe for completion of the building project. I acknowledge that the local community, including the parents who have sons or daughters in the three schools, have been waiting patiently for the campus. The issue must be taken very seriously as they have been waiting almost two decades for it to be resolved. I look forward to continued engagement with the Deputy on the issue.
I thank the Minister for his response. I join him in acknowledging the patience of the local community and the combined work and effort of the three schools, their management and the parents in terms of working towards an outcome where the three schools will be on the one campus. Unfortunately, the patience and goodwill of the parents in recent years has not been mirrored by Government action on the issue. It is disgraceful that no site has been provided over 11 years after the three schools agreed to amalgamate. The Government has messed around for far too long by not prioritising the issue. The preferred site was identified in 2013, over five years ago. However, once that was done the Government reset the clock and restarted the process. It is only now that I have faith that this can be brought to a conclusion.
I ask the Minister to confirm that the ongoing negotiations relate to the first preferred site and to give an assurance that they are meaningful such that we can have some hope that there will very soon be a conclusion.
I will not get into a political argument on the issue. Frustrations manifest themselves in many ways. We have a tremendous opportunity to bring together three great schools on a Crana College campus, including a Gaelscoil and a Gaelcholáiste.
It is an ideal scenario. The Government's priority has always been to provide the funding. The funding is ring-fenced under the 2016-21 programme. There is no question about that. The delays are being caused by negotiations with a private owner. At this stage, all parties should be afforded the space to ensure these sensitive negotiations are carried through in a timely way. We need to ensure we get the proper result for the community. The various partners involved in this project, including Donegal County Council and Donegal Education and Training Board, DETB, are all on the same hymn sheet.
I thank the Minister.
We still need a decision to be made. There is engagement now. It is at a heightened level, as it has been in recent months. I hope we get a successful outcome here.
I am always hesitant to intervene when people are explaining something, but I have to mention that the timespan which is laid down for questions - six and a half minutes in total - is continually being broken. Those who run over time should be conscious that other Deputies are waiting to have their questions answered and they are preventing this from happening. In the interests of fairness, I appeal to Deputies to watch the clock that flashes in front of them when they exceed the time available to them, as they are well aware. This applies to everybody. Let us to try to operate within the time constraints that exist.
While I accept that the school is on the 2016-21 capital funding programme, that means nothing when there is no site. It has taken too long to get the site that is needed as a first step. I welcome the Minister's confirmation that the ongoing negotiations relate to the first preferred site. As he knows, recent local media coverage suggested that the site in question had been sold. There is no doubt that this preferred site needs to be acquired if at all possible. Every effort needs to be made to secure it for these schools. I urge him to expedite this project in his capacity as Minister and as a representative of Donegal. It has gone on for too long.
There is no doubt that it has not been prioritised by the Government in recent years. It needs to be prioritised in order that the site can be secured. DETB wrote to the previous Minister on a number of occasions to seek meetings, but it did not receive a reply for a long period. This matter was not being prioritised at that juncture. I will work with the Minister in any way I can to ensure it is now brought to a conclusion. The parents, teachers and, in particular, pupils of these three schools deserve a new school, which needs to be a priority for the Government.
It is important to point out that, as Minister, I am not involved in any of the negotiations on this matter. The officials in my Department are working on it. I assure the Deputy that they are providing the necessary focus to try to bring this to a conclusion as speedily as possible. I am conscious of the frustrations, dreams and visions of those whose sons and daughters have attended these schools and have come out the other end. If all partners and stakeholders can work to bring this to a conclusion as soon as possible, that will be met with a tremendous drive. The Deputy spoke about the energy in these three schools. Like him, I am in touch with the principals and the teams in the staffrooms on a daily basis. There is an energy to drive this project. The development of this physical building would be a tremendous bonus to future education in this area.
