Vol. 568 No. 1
94 Mr. Gogarty asked the Minister for Education and Science the specific measures in place to tackle the schools accommodation crisis in Lucan, County Dublin, to ensure that there are sufficient places to meet the needs of children in the area for September 2003. [15832/03]
I am conscious of the issues raised by the Deputy. Lucan is the fastest growing area in the country and, as a result, there has been a marked increase in the demand for primary school places in Lucan, particularly in the south Lucan area in the electoral division of Lucan-Esker. In order to meet this demand, my Department has taken steps to increase the capacity of existing primary schools in the area concerned by way of the provision of permanent and temporary accommodation.
Building projects have recently been completed at Scoil Áine junior school and St. Thomas's senior school to increase the capacity of each of these schools to 16 classrooms. Construction of the new Lucan Educate Together national school will be finalised for September 2003. The capacity of the school will be 16 mainstream classrooms and an autistic unit. My Department is also arranging for the installation of a prefabricated unit at Archbishop Ryan national school. This unit will be installed over the summer and will be available for September.
With regard to accommodation for Griffeen Valley Educate Together national school, my Department has instructed the property management section of the Office of Public Works, which acts on behalf of the Department regarding site acquisitions generally, to enter into negotiations with the owners of the site reserved for primary school purposes in Griffeen with a view to acquir ing the site. However, at this stage, it is unlikely that the site will be available for the forthcoming school year. My Department is currently in communication with the board of management of Griffeen Valley Educate Together national school with a view to arranging alternative accommodation, as an interim measure, for September 2003. Primary provision in the Lucan area and, in particular, south Lucan will continue to be monitored by my Department.
The population of Lucan south increased by approximately 7,000 to 21,000 between 1996 and 2002. The situation is at crisis point. I will have to continue drawing attention to this because the Minister's answer is not satisfactory. Griffeen Valley Educate Together was banking on getting that land but if there is humming and hawing about having to get an alternative site, there will be no clarity for the many people who are waiting to get their children into the school.
The building at Scoil Áine and St. Thomas's is welcome but those schools are in Esker. There is a major problem. If a child is a Catholic or a Traveller in Lucan south, he or she has a better chance of getting into school. If the child is non-Catholic, and this is an area where a large number of people are from various ethnic and religious backgrounds, he or she cannot get into Archbishop Ryan school because of the priority system. That is fair enough, given that it is a Catholic school, but the multidenominational school, Lucan Educate Together, is full and Griffeen Valley Educate Together has no clarity about its future. The Church of Ireland school, St. Andrew's, recently got sanction for works but it is still vastly overcrowded.
A task force is required. Will the Minister consider setting up such a task force to deal with these schools? Will he provide funding to allow Archbishop Ryan school become a junior and senior school and allow Griffeen Valley Educate Together school to secure its land sooner rather than later? The Minister is aware of this crisis but I will continue to raise it until it is resolved.
This is the fastest growing area and the figures quoted by the Deputy are correct. The population has increased by 7,500 to 21,785. I outlined what the Department has been doing to try to meet the immediate problem and we will continue to do that. An interim solution has been proposed for September 2003 and I hope that will give us the breathing space to solve the problem for Griffeen Valley Educate Together during the next 12 months.
