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Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 24 Jun 1999

Vol. 507 No. 1

Adjournment Debate. - School Site.

Scoil Eoin is an outstanding primary school in the parish of Foxfield-St. John in Kilbarrack which is deemed a vulnerable area in terms of economic deprivation and high levels of unemployment, a central feature of the Northside Partnership area. Although I have raised the matter with the Minister for Education and Science and his predecessor, the school has failed to gain disadvantaged status and, as a consequence, extra specialist teachers, unlike the adjacent Gaelscoil, Gaelscoil Míde, and multidenominational school, North Bay, both of which are excellent primary schools and where perhaps parents are more committed.

Unbelievably, about half of the school yard, 1.018 acres, is to be sold off to Dublin Corporation for social housing development. In the recent local elections there was a major demonstration by several hundred people who are outraged at the proposed sale. In a press release, the demonstrators, who included the staff and parents, indicated that while they were not opposed to housing, this should not be at the expense of the pupils. They referred to the proposed sale as a form of asset stripping.

I have been informed by Dublin Corporation that the contract which it has signed has not been returned by the St. Laurence O'Toole Diocesan Trust. While I appreciate that it is the religious authorities which have initiated this process, the Minister for Education and Science should not allow the proposed sale to go through without comment. I call on him to act immediately in the interests of this deprived community. Foxfield-St. John is the parish of the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Woods, who has expressed concern at this development. Given that this brilliant school has not been given the disadvantaged status and specialist teachers it deserves, the least we should do is ensure its playground remains untouched.

I thank the Deputy for giving me the opportunity of outlining the situation regarding the school property at Scoil Eoin, Kilbarrack, Dublin 5. Let me provide some background information on the case. The existing school site is not owned by the Department of Education and Science and no State funding of any kind went towards its purchase. The St. Laurence O'Toole Diocesan Trust has legal ownership of the site. The Department would have provided a substantial proportion of the funding for the construction of the school buildings at Scoil Eoin.

To protect the State's investment in the buildings, there is a vesting arrangement in respect of the site which requires the consent of the Minister for Education and Science to a disposal of land. If the owners wish to dispose of any part of the vested site, the Department examines the situation from the point of view of the school's current and future requirements and if it is satisfied that these are not adversely affected, approval is given. The circumstances whereby the Department may refuse approval to devest part of a site relate solely to the protection of the State's investment in the buildings and the normal requirements of a primary school.

In November 1996 the solicitors for the St. Laurence O'Toole Diocesan Trust – parish of Foxfield applied to the Department to have a portion of the school site formally devested as it wished to sell it to Fingal County Council for social housing development. The Department wrote to the school inspector outlining the situation and asking him to report on the matter and ascertain if the piece of land in question was necessary for the effective operation of the school and if there were any buildings located on the site in question.

In December 1996 the inspector submitted a report to the Department on the matter in which he indicated that the enrolment at the school had dropped from 970 in the 1977-78 school year to 320 in 1996, despite having amalgamated with the girls' school in the interim. The inspector sought the opinion of the then principal and vice-principal who stated that the remaining play area, following the proposed devesting, would be adequate for the 320 pupils on the roll. It was also their opinion that the enrolment figures were likely to remain static and would not increase for the foreseeable future. Enrolments at the school in September 1998 had declined to 287 pupils.

Based on the information to hand, the Department determined that there were no grounds for objecting to the devesting of the site in question which amounted to some 1.25 acres. A stipulation was, however, made as part of the agreement that a suitable perimeter fence in keeping with the existing fence should be erected along part of the boundary. The deeds of surrender were executed in the Department and returned to the Office of the Chief State Solicitor in June 1997. The current status of the sale of the property is not a matter for the Department.

It has since come to the Department's attention that the area agreed for sale was reduced to one acre leaving a site of some 3.22 acres remaining to the school. This is in excess of the area of 2.5 acres which the Department considers necessary for a school of approximately 290 pupils. In these circumstances there can be no question of the Department intervening to prevent the sale of land it does not own.

The Dáil adjourned at 5.20 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 June 1999.

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