An application for grant aid towards additional accommodation at the specific school to which the Deputy refers has been received from the board of management of the school in question. The application is being examined at present in the school planning section of my Department and when completed, a decision in this matter will be conveyed to the management authority.
The need for a new primary school in the general Stepaside area has already been identified. The local authority has reserved a site for the proposed new school in the context of the Stepaside action area plan. A formal notification of intention to apply for the recognition of a new school in the area, to commence operation in September 2004, has been received from the Dublin Archdiocese. The application will be referred to the new schools' advisory committee for its consideration. The committee will make its recommendations to me in this matter at a later stage.
The matter of acquiring sites for both the proposed new school and the existing all-Irish primary school in the area will be considered in the context of the 2004 school building programme.
