Vol. 471 No. 3
42 Mr. Dempsey asked the Minister for Education whether she has agreed to the location of Ashbourne Community School, County Meath, as recommended by the board of management of the school; if she will sanction the provision of ten additional temporary classrooms for September 1997; and if she will confirm that the proposed extension to the school will be provided for in her Department's Estimates for 1997. [20672/96]
An extension to cater for a projected long-term enrolment of 1,000 pupils has been approved for Ashbourne Community School, County Meath. The exact location on the school site of the proposed extension was discussed with the school authorities and agreement has been reached on the most suitable location.
Approval has now been given to the design team to proceed to stage two, outline sketch scheme, of the planning process. The question of providing capital funds for building will not arise until the planning process has been fully completed. At this early stage, it is not possible to indicate when the construction will commence. However, every effort is being made to have the planning of the proposed extension completed as quickly as possible.
The question of providing ten additional temporary classrooms for September 1997 has been examined by my Department's planning unit. It is estimated that temporary accommodation will be required for an additional 125-150 pupils in September 1997 and approval has been given on that basis.
