Cathal Byrne
Cultural and Educational Panel · Fine Gael · Ireland
“I join other Senators in urging the Government, including the Minister for local government, to produce the action plan on local democracy and make it a key priority to work on it over the summer so that the hard-working councillors up and down Ireland can have clarity about what exactly the changes will be as they face into another round…”
“I join colleagues in thanking so many of the staff here who make it possible for us to do our day-to-day work. That includes not only Martin Hughes and the team here in the Seanad, but also the ushers and all those who make the day-to-day life of Leinster House possible, including those who work in the restaurant, the canteen and behind t…”
“The Senator also raised the situation of the artist Emily Conway from County Mayo, who received an Arts Council bursary in recognition of her important contribution as an artist but which has created a scenario whereby her application for a blind pension has run into difficulty. I encourage him to put that down as a Commencement matter.”
“I feel there is also a responsibility on Dublin City Council to allow for that and to support local residents in the area. In fairness to Senator Andrews, he has spoken about this before in the House. I am happy to take it up with the Leader.”
“However, because the consultation with the consultant took place initially in Monaghan, the HSE refused that application. I encourage Senator Tully to perhaps raise this as a Commencement matter. There is an appeal mechanism through the HSE and the ombudsman. Perhaps that is an avenue for her constituent to pursue.”
“The Order of Business is No. 1, Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Bill 2026 - Committee Stage (resumed) and Remaining Stages, to be taken at 12.45 p.m., with the proceedings thereon, if not previously concluded, to be brought to a conclusion at 3.45 p.m.”
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“I join colleagues in congratulating Senator Nicole Ryan on her fantastic news. I wish her and her family the very best. I want to discuss the issue of the family carer's payment. In my county of Wexford, approximately 16,000 people are caring for a loved one - a child with a disability, a spouse with an illness or a parent with dementia or Alzheimer's. At the moment, they are entitled to approximately €270 per week, but that is subject to a means test. Unfortunately, the cold, hard reality of that means test, which takes into account your part-time job, your spouse's income and your savings, means that many people are on reduced payments or are not receiving a payment.”
“With the vast amount of taxpayers' money going into this scheme and the vast number of people who are applying for this scheme, for good reason, then we must have better accountability. Nobody should be waiting and getting a letter in the post that says in 12 months' time somebody will call out to do an inspection. I encourage the Acting Leader to ask the Minister for energy to come before this House and give us some details on what exactly is going on with the SEAI and with these energy upgrade schemes, and to see what can be done in this year's budget to ensure this is not rolled out across the country the way it currently is.”
“Ultimately, when that inspection is done the work is identified but the work is not done and will take another 12 to 18 months thereafter. At a time when families are under pressure, when the cost of fuel and the cost of oil has gone up so much, along with the cost of gas to heat people's homes, and when we have the Government putting this money on the line, we need more accountability from the SEAI. If it is the case it then comes back to say it cannot get the contractors in order to do these works faster, then we will have to have a whole-of-government approach to putting more apprenticeship schemes in place so we can train up more people who are able to deliver these schemes.”
“I also acknowledge our guests. They are most welcome to Seanad Éireann. I will speak for a moment about the warmer homes scheme and the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI. I was contacted recently by a lady who had applied for support from the warmer homes scheme. She was looking at getting some attic insulation done and getting some upgrades to the energy capacity of her house. She submitted all of the application forms to the SEAI and got back in the post a letter that said in 12 months' time somebody would call out to see what could be done for her house and to carry out a survey. When the Government put €640 million into this scheme last year, nobody should be getting a letter saying that in 12 months' time somebody will call out to their house to do an inspection.”
“I thank the Minister of State for her response. The reason I am so passionate about this project is that I have seen so many people my age and older who did not have the opportunity to go to third level in their own county but went to Dublin, Waterford or Cork and, unfortunately, did not come back. There is a real opportunity here to stop the brain drain from County Wexford into other areas and use this campus to drive jobs, economic growth and economic opportunity in our county. I thank the Minister of State for the update. I will work with her, the Minister and the Department to ensure that this project continues to be driven forward. If necessary, I will raise it again to ensure it is kept at the top of the agenda.”
“It will be the first campus in Ireland which will co-educate from primary school education to secondary school education, apprenticeships and then on to university status, all co-located on the one site. This is a unique, flagship campus but we have to move it on. The people of Wexford have been waiting too long for their own designated third level campus. There is fantastic work going on in St. Peter's College and the campus it has there, but the reality is that it is just not suitable for the scale of ambition people have for third level education in Wexford. I would be very grateful to get an update from the Minister of State. I visited the site with the Minister, Deputy James Lawless, on 5 December, when he came to Wexford. We are now several months on and we just want a clear update on where we are at.”
“I thank the Minister of State for coming in for this very important Commencement matter. This is about requesting an update from the Department about the South East Technological University Wexford campus. Regrettably, Wexford has the lowest number of people with a third level education degree. We are at about 37% as of census 2022, while the national average is 46%. This shows just how important the Wexford SETU campus will be. I am aware of the CPO being completed. I am aware of the detailed design, and the layout for the campus is under way. I am here to request a very important update on where this project is at and what we can do to work together to move it on. This is a unique campus.”
“We look forward to seeing how this will be rolled out over the months and year ahead. Perhaps the Minister of State will come back to us over the coming months again and give us a further update when that is necessary.”
“Finally, I want to underscore the need for suppliers to these contracts and these tenders to have the opportunity to tender again rather than having to apply individually each time and put in the name of their business, the address of their business and their VAT number, that the portal that will be rolled out for eTenders is simplified, that it will store that data and that suppliers would effectively have a digital passport whereby they are able to log in and that detail is already captured by the website. That has been available in the past and it is very important that it is available again in the future. I encourage the Minister of State, as part of rolling out this roadmap for the digital development plan, to incorporate that in it. I wish him and his officials the best and thank him for coming into the Chamber to give us an update.”
“I also want to highlight a concern I have had in the seven years I have been a public representative for the people in Wexford, which is about the prevalence of consultants and consultants' reports and the large amounts of money being spent at local authority and national level commissioning external consultants' reports. If every project, particularly an infrastructure project, will require a set of environmental analyses and technical data, and given that this will be repeated again and again, is there an opportunity to bring that in house rather than externally tendering it and hiring different consultants on every project repeatedly? For example, if there is a road project, a bridge project or another infrastructure project that can be delivered by the local authority, is there not an opportunity to bring that in house?”
“People running small businesses do not have hours and hours to be trawling through large tender documents. They are under enormous time constraints and time pressure. They need easy access to be able to say, "Yes, this is a contract we can do", "No, that is a contract we cannot do" or even "This is a contract we could do if we were to recruit a few more people, grow our business and really put an effort into securing that contract". Unfortunately, however, those small businesses, sole traders and small companies do not have the time to trawl through tender documents that are complex and detailed and in respect of which they are not in a position to swiftly make a decision as to whether it is something they can apply for.”
“That came across very much in the Minister of State's contribution, that this is what he is driving. Another key issue here is making these large Government contracts available to small businesses in order that they are able to come forward and tender for contracts. It should never be the case that taxpayers' money being spent on a large procurement contract is available exclusively to large companies while the small businessperson who set up their business and who is looking to make the jump from being a small business to being a medium-sized business does not have access to those contracts. I very much welcome the opportunity that will be available to small businesses through the new eTenders that the Department is rolling out in making information available.”
“With the new office that has been set up, the centralised Office of Government Procurement, the fact that data will be collected across all Government Departments and all agencies and put in one central place where things can be managed and that there is a clear set of eyes over how the money is being spent is really important. The second key point I will make about this whole area is that in order to drive value for taxpayers, it is not just about the lowest costs but also about what is the best value. Too often we have seen contracts that have come in at the lowest price and then, when the work starts, things are more complicated than they originally seemed and inevitably the price goes up. Value for money means value at the end, when the job has actually been paid for, not just the cheapest price when the job is being tendered for.”
“I very much welcome the Minister of State back to the Chamber and congratulate him on his recent appointment, which I have not had the opportunity to do in this Chamber until today. This is a very important issue. I think it is often forgotten just how much money flows through these public procurement policies and through the Minister of State's Department. When I am out speaking to voters and residents in Wexford, one of the key things they say to me is that they are fed up with and tired of how much money they feel is being wasted on certain projects. The Minister of State's Department has a unique opportunity to restore trust among people that the money that is being spent is being spent wisely, that there are a series of procedures and processes there and that there is a firm grip on how hardworking taxpayers' money is being spent.”
“While I am in favour of solar farms, the group has asked me to voice some of its concerns around the fact this is some of the best agricultural land in County Wexford, as well as the lack of consultation between the developer and the local residents in the area and a general sense we are having now of industrial levels of solar farm use being rolled out in rural Ireland. The group has reiterated the call for the Minister and the Department to publish clear land use guidelines. I continue to advocate for that so we have a clear sense of direction as to where this is going. I hope this is something the Minister of State and the Department can do into the future.”
“We have to see the Rosslare to Oilgate motorway being finally delivered. These are key infrastructure projects that are going to have a direct impact on the ability of Wexford to be to the forefront of that given our unique position with the Tonn Nua site and the opportunities that present there. I recently met with residents and members of the Gusserane Community Action Group. It is a community-based group that has concerns about large-scale solar farms being developed in the area, particularly around Gusserane, Ballycullane, Newbawn and the Campile-Clongeen area, where there are plans for 300 acres of solar farm use.”
“I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. I acknowledge the enormous concerns that ordinary people are having around the cost of energy, the price of fuel and the difficulties that they are having, including working people getting to work and making ends meet and the challenges that they are posing. The reality here is that as a country we have to make a concerted effort to make the transition away from fossil fuel use, particularly given the global instability that we have at the moment. My own county of Wexford is to the forefront in that regard. As previously mentioned, the Tonn Nua site off the coast of Wexford has enormous potential for offshore renewable energy. To facilitate that site and maximise its potential, there has to be continued investment in the port in Rosslare.”
“train and from Enniscorthy is the 6.20 a.m. train. There is an opportunity, with the investment the Government is putting into rail transport, to allow for an early morning commuter train from south Wexford to Dublin. We should have that debate in this Chamber.”
“I again highlight the fact that at the moment if you live in south Wexford, be it in Rosslare, Wexford town or Enniscorthy, it is not possible to get an early morning train to Dublin that will have you in Dublin Connolly before 8.48 a.m., while if you live further north, such as in Gorey, you can arrive at 7.48 a.m. That hour difference is having a real and direct impact on the ability of commuters from south Wexford to access rail transport to Dublin and work and utilise the service in Dublin. I again call on the Minister for Transport to come into this Chamber for a proper, real discussion on the future infrastructure needs of rail lines, particularly, from my perspective, on the Wexford to Dublin line. The 5.45 a.m. train from Gorey puts you in Dublin Connolly at 7.48, while the earliest service from Wexford town is the 5.59 a.m.”
“I know the Minister of State will lead on this. The fact we have a Cabinet sub-committee and a Cabinet-level Minister of State focused on this area is significant. I look forward to continuing to work with her on this into the future.”
“The Minister of State has a unique opportunity in budget 2027 to put resources into abolishing the carer's means test or taking a significant step in that direction. These are people who may have never applied for any other social protection payment and find, through different circumstances, they have to apply to become a carer for a loved one or significant other but are outside the threshold. While work has been done, there is a significant opportunity to do more. For the first time ever, caring is a recognised contribution towards getting a State pension. It is very significant for the State to recognise that if someone has taken time off to care for a child or loved one, that time was work and therefore qualifies for a State pension. That is a welcome change. I welcome the work done but there is far more to be done.”
“The person could not even get to the interview because it was not in a suitable location for them. Those are the key issues I am hearing about in my clinics in Wexford when people talk about disability services as a whole: access; making sure the supports are widely available; and the fact different parts of the country have different levels of service, which should never be the case. I want to also highlight the work that has started on the abolition of the carer's means test. Many people have told me they feel they have no choice but to apply for carer's allowance but are ruled out of it by circumstances beyond their control. I recognise the last budget saw a significant change in the carer's means test, which will expand it further than ever before, but we have to get there faster.”
“I acknowledge the Minister of State attended the conference as well and would have heard this point directly. One of the big things we spoke about that day was the barriers that exist for people with disabilities to get access to employment. There is a greater need for supports through the Department of enterprise and through the Minister of State's role at the Cabinet table to ensure that those who wish to take up a job are able to do so. Accommodations need to be made to recognise that they do have a disability but they want to be part of the workforce, to be able to work and take up opportunities. The real lived experience of people having to attend interviews in places perhaps where it is not possible to get up the stairs and there is no lift, was one of the key stories told that day.”
“For budget 2027, I would encourage the Minister of State to seek further supports to enable that service to be rolled out beyond the initial set of schools that it was for. Many children are being taken out of the school, go to their appointment and are brought back to school. It really is better to have it all under the one roof. Ultimately, I would like to see that rolled out to all the special education classes that we have opening across the country in the new schools as we see most recently as of yesterday. I want to speak for a moment about something that is very significant. I attended the Fine Gael conference on disability in Galway. This was an opportunity for many of the various stakeholders and people who live with a disability on a daily basis to speak directly to our party about what matters most to them.”
“Patrick's Special School, Enniscorthy, with the Minister of State's predecessor, Senator Anne Rabbitte, when a pilot was rolled out to supply speech and language therapists, physiotherapists and occupational therapists directly into a special school. The point made to the parents that day was that they were bringing their children to school or they were being collected and brought to school by a bus. Then, within an hour of the day starting in school, they were leaving to attend an appointment with a physiotherapist, a speech and language therapist or an occupational therapist and then they were coming back and going somewhere else. The pilot scheme made a lot of sense and it worked in Enniscorthy. We have to roll that out further. I know it has been made available to the first round of schools but that model has to be more widespread.”
“In this Chamber I previously spoke about the difficulties in accessing speech and language therapy for children in particular, in the New Ross area. I recognise that there has been some recruitment in that area, in New Ross, but we need more supports put into that. It is not acceptable in this day and age that children are waiting four to five years for an assessment for speech and language therapy, particularly when having access to that support is such a significant step in all of their further life. In general terms, I recognise something the really important roll-out of the education therapy. I actually attended St.”
“I recognise the fact that we have had in the last budget, for 2026, a €634 million increase. This speaks to the fact that this is an issue that was of profound significance in the most recent general election. So many people spoke to me when I was out on doors in Wexford about the impact on their families of interacting with the State services and the difficulties that many people are having in accessing those State services. I definitely recognise the increase in over 1,000 workers available for recruitment to positions in the HSE this year, to make sure that people can get access to the services because that is so important. In my own area in Wexford, there are difficulties with accessing CDNT services.”
“I thank the Minister of State for coming to the Chamber to discuss this very important topic. I very much recognise the fact that the latest census suggests that we have about 1.1 million people across Ireland currently living with some form of a disability. I am very conscious of the fact that disability comes in many guises. It can be somebody who suffers from a mild inconvenience to somebody who suffers from a profound disability, which has a direct impact in all aspects on so many people, be it their family, their loved ones, the workforce they are a part of or the fact that they cannot seek employment in the workforce. As the first speaker in this debate, it is important for me to recognise the fact that we are talking about a vast range of people and a vast range of people who they interact with on a daily basis as well.”
“It is something we need to have the Minister for planning come in on. We need clear national guidance on what a shopfront for a vape shop can be, how vape shops can market themselves and particularly about how many vape shops can be on one main street within a proximate location to schools or a proximate location where young people are hanging out. To be clear, I am not against vaping and am not looking for a ban on vaping. I am not against vapes being sold to over-18s but given the proliferation of these shops and how many are starting to come, their frontal design with neon lights and all that goes with it, we need clear national guidelines and, if necessary, legislation in this area.”
“I want to raise the issue of vaping and the proliferation of vape shops that are popping up right across our main urban areas in County Wexford. I am not against vaping for adults. I recognise it is something that quite a considerable number of people are engaging in. However, I am speaking about the direct targeting of young children and teenagers under the age of 18 through flashy, cartoon-style advertisements across our main urban streets, particularly on the main streets of towns like Enniscorthy, New Ross and Wexford. There is a deliberate attempt by these shopfront owners using flashy neon lighting to attract and sell vapes to children so that when they are walking down the main street, their eyes are caught by these shiny bright lights outside of these vape shops.”
“It is very important that as we look forward towards 2030, 2040 and 2050, particularly in the GAA context where we are going to have integration across the three associations, that yet again there is an extra allocation of marks and funding for organisations and clubs that demonstrate a clear increase in female participation in sports.”
“One key thing for me is that the last allocation supported grants of up to €200,000 for individual sports clubs but given that we have a high rate of inflation and cost of construction at the moment, I call for that rate to be increased to perhaps as high as €300,000 to maximise the opportunities for various clubs right across the country to be able to access that funding. The last round of funding was very supportive in increasing the allocation for clubs that strove to increase both male and female participation.”
“I will speak for a moment about the upcoming sports capital grant allocation. It is very important that this is a large allocation put forward by the Department and the Minister of State with responsibility for sport, particularly in the context of more public participation than ever before in our games across GAA, soccer, rugby and hurling but also those games that do not receive the same amount of attention. I call on the Minister of State to come into this Chamber to give an update on the forthcoming sports capital grant. Perhaps later we would have statements on the sports capital grant.”
“Given the fact that it has now been three months since that request was submitted, I am calling on the Minister for Transport to come to the House to clearly state whether the Government is going to support Wexford County Council's application for this one-off funding. Back in 2020, an application for €5 million was submitted after storm damage that happened on Christmas Day and that money was allocated, but this time the situation in rural Wexford is far worse. I would like the Minister to come to the Chamber to discuss this issue.”
“I very much welcome the opportunity to speak this morning on a very important topic. It has been almost three months since Storm Chandra ripped through Wexford, leaving a trail of devastation. Since then, Wexford County Council road crews have been out surveying the damage and have concluded that 157 roads are now impassable in Wexford, to the point where it is not safe to drive across them. The council has submitted a request to the Department of Transport for €20 million in emergency funding. This is a one-off request that recognises the fact this devastation is having a serious impact on the local economy in Wexford. Hauliers, bus drivers, farmers, agricultural contractors, carers and people trying to get to school are all unable to use the roads as a transport network in rural County Wexford.”
“I do not support the blockades and they told me that they did not support blockades, but they felt compelled to turn out in a peaceful manner because of the penalty levels of taxation on fuel. I recognise the fact there has been an announcement on that, but my key point is that in facing into the next budget, we have to get to grips with the high level of taxation in this country for the people who feel they pay everything in and cannot get anything back out.”
“They told me how this is effectively a fourth tax. They are paying high-level income tax and are hitting the higher tax threshold too soon. They are paying the USC, which was brought in previously as an emergency measure, but continues to this day. They are paying higher rates of PRSI. Many of them are now also contributing towards their own employees' pensions. These are people who are asking for fairness. They are not asking for a favour. They are people who work hard. They want the opportunity to continue to work hard but to get an adequate return from that, so they can pay their mortgage, raise their children and continue to contribute to society.”
“I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. I will speak for a moment, as I did earlier today, about the protesters I met and listened to, and whose stories I heard, over the past number of days. They are ordinary working people who get up at 4 a.m., get onto machinery and work hard all day in the darkness of night right through to the darkness of night in the evening time. They are contractors, hauliers, fishermen, farm labourers and people who drive buses, trucks, lorries, diggers and other heavy machinery. They said to me that they felt there was not enough support from the Government through the taxation system for people who are working hard. They told me how they felt that the fuel crisis was the straw that broke the camel's back as regards high, penalty levels of taxation.”
“They feel that they cannot work overtime and feel incredibly frustrated at how much they are paying into a pot from which they get little. They are the essence of the squeezed middle: people who are working hard, trying to get ahead but find it difficult to make ends meet. This Government has to hear clearly what they have said. It has to reflect deeply on what they have said and it has to get the message that hard-working people need lower rates of taxation to get ahead in this country. I am going to speak again on this later. I will certainly do what I can within the Fine Gael parliamentary party to be a voice for these people. The people I met are ordinary decent people and I will certainly do everything I can to take that message back to the Government.”
“Yesterday and over the past number of days, I met with many of the people who were protesting across County Wexford. They are not the same people who are being portrayed in the media. These are ordinary working people who get up early in the morning in the dark and work through the day until dark. They are people who drive machinery and tractors. They are truck, lorry and bus drivers. They are the people who bring food across the country and take it out of fields. They are the people who bring children to school in the morning. Yes, they have incredible frustration with Government policy around fuel, but many said to me that their main frustration is the amount of taxation the Government is taking from hard-working people. They feel penalised by income tax levels, USC, PRSI and the low rate at which the top rate of tax kicks in.”
“I move: That, pursuant to subsection 2° of section 2 of Article 25 of the Constitution, Seanad Éireann concurs with the Government in a request to the President to sign the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Bill 2026 on a date which is earlier than the fifth day after the date on which the Bill shall have been presented to her.”
“I merely want to welcome the passing of this Bill. I thank the Minister of State and her officials. Obviously, this is emergency legislation which had to be prepared at short notice. It is important to recognise that. In the overall context, I encourage the Minister of State and the Department to take an in-depth look at the enduring power of attorney system. The point was made earlier that so many solicitors have clients come in to them to make a will who should be also getting an enduring power of attorney prepared at the same time and are not, because of the bureaucratic technical difficulties that exist there. There is a big opportunity to see what has gone wrong over the last number of years, correct it, and make it even easier and more widespread and commonplace than someone having a will.”
“I actually think there is an issue with access to legal representation for wards of court in this situation because of how few practices are engaging in this whole area. Perhaps that needs to be looked at properly. I do think it is important this legislation passes. The Fine Gael group is certainly supportive of it. Later on, we will have an opportunity to discuss the enduring powers of attorney. There are amendments before that. I urge the Minister of State to take a real look at the enduring powers of attorney model that we have brought in under the 2015 legislation. I do not think it is fully working the way it was envisaged. It may need a review. Ultimately in the forefront of our minds we have to have the 1,400 wards of court, their families and the people who care for them as we pass this emergency legislation.”
“It is taking an inordinate length of time to process those applications through their offices, through no fault of their own, but also because the courts themselves, given the weight and gravity of these decisions, are reluctant to make decisions as swiftly as perhaps would happen in other ranges of court applications. It is important that, in the extension of time that we have here out to October 2027, that we look at the real reasons as to why some of these applications are taking so long, outside of what is outlined by the review that was done. That review is saying that some of the wards are reluctant, it is a new model and they may not want to be the first engagers but want to see how others are getting on and they will respond.”
“I have seen first-hand and engaged directly with people who have had difficulties with the legislation as it currently exists, particularly around assisted decision-making applications to the courts, the length of time the courts are taking to process those applications, the number of stakeholders involved in the applications. My experience is that while each one of these wards who is being discharged is entitled to legal aid, and they do have legal representation, the reality is that very few lawyers, solicitors and barristers are accepting as clients wards of court or who are taking on the legal aid certificates that they have. That has meant their offices are swamped.”
“These are people who have lost capacity to make fundamental decisions about their own well-being, their financial affairs, their social life, who they should engage with, as well as healthcare decisions. These are some of the most fundamental decisions that anybody can make about their own lives. That is what is at stake here. It is important that when we are discussing this legislation, we look at it in its entirety. There are issues with the capacity Act of 2015. As a solicitor, my practice has made applications to the courts on behalf of some of these people.”
“The Minister of State is most welcome and I welcome the opportunity to make a short contribution on Second Stage of this legislation. About ten or 11 years ago, I was a law student while this legislation was being introduced. I remember hearing in lectures about the background to this legislation and the reason it was so important that we moved away from the previous system, which had operated in Ireland from 1871 to 2015. What we have before us is legislation that will have a profound impact on the lives of 1,400 people, perhaps even more than that, out in the community, as well as on their families and loved ones, the people they need who have cared for them over the lives.”
“I would also like to invite the Minister for Education and Youth to come to the school and meet the students, school management and acting principal, Tracey Edwards. Perhaps the Minister of State might take that open invitation back to the Minister. The school is more than happy to facilitate the visit and show the Minister firsthand the real lived experience of the students in the school on a day-to-day basis.”
“I thank the Minister of State for the response. I very much welcome the fact that the Department will commit to engaging with the school. I cannot overemphasise the importance of the project. I know Ramsgrange Community School will engage with the energy and conditions survey the Department will open shortly. I know from my interactions with the school how keen it is to engage with the Department on that, in particular to ensure that the special classes, of which there are currently four, will be in a position to move to a purpose-built facility. With 630 students attending a school built for 500 in prefab buildings from the 1980s, I encourage the Department to take the school's reflections on where things are at the moment and ensure that it is a priority.”
“There are so many students. There is overcrowding and the school has classrooms that are not fit for purpose. This application accordingly has to be treated a priority. It has to move through from the tender to build phases as soon as possible. I ask the Minister of State to take this Matter seriously and to bring it back to the Department and for it to really hear that points that have been put forward by the school community. We need to ensure that it is treated as the priority that it deserves to be as it serves such a large catchment area in south Wexford.”