Seanad Éireann debate -
Thursday, 20 Nov 2003

Vol. 174 No. 15

Adjournment Matter. - School Accommodation.

Ms Tuffy

I previously raised this matter on the Adjournment. Some progress has been made, in that temporary accommodation was provided for Griffeen Valley Educate Together national school in the prefab buildings previously occupied by another school, Lucan Educate Together. This move is welcome. The accommodation is much more satisfactory than was previously the case. The Lucan Educate Together school has moved to a permanent building. However, much more needs to be done.

Coláiste Cois Life gaelscoil in Lucan is still in temporary accommodation. Students have completed second level education in a temporary building without proper sports and other facilities. The classroom accommodation is not up to modern standards.

A shortfall in places is still evident. This is particularly the case with non-national families who have difficulty finding places for their children in schools in Lucan and are forced to find schools outside the area. The Department of Education and Science must ensure that additional temporary accommodation is provided in the short term and that permanent buildings are planned in advance to provide for the future. The residential development in Adamstown, which received a great deal of publicity, will result in even greater school accommodation needs in future. It is important that the Department plans ahead to have the necessary infrastructure in place to cater for the population increase resulting from the Adamstown development, among others.

The two new schools in Lucan are Educate Together schools. The parents have had to take the initiative in setting up these schools. Nobody else came forward to do it, including the Department of Education and Science. I accept that extra temporary accommodation has been provided by the Department for the Archbishop Ryan national school. A plan has been agreed to provide permanent accommodation for which a site has been acquired. While I realise the Minister of State will provide me with much of that information, much more must be done in terms of overall planning to meet the educational needs of the current and future population of Lucan.

Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Mr. M. Ahern)

I thank Senator Tuffy for raising this matter. The Minister for Education and Science is fully conscious of the issue raised by the Senator. Lucan is the fastest growing area in the country and there has been a marked increase in the demand for school places, particularly at primary level. To meet this demand, the Department of Education and Science has taken steps to increase the capacity of existing schools in the area by providing 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 primary schools to 16 classrooms. Construction of the new Lucan Educate Together national school was also recently completed and its capacity is 16 mainstream classrooms and an autistic unit.

The Department has requested that Archbishop Ryan national school reorganise to form a junior school and a senior school. The school's authority and its patron have agreed to this action and the operation will commence in September 2004. The Department will provide accommodation to facilitate a re-organisation which will enable the school to increase its capacity considerably. In addition, the building unit of the Department recently approved the tender for the installation of two prefabricated classrooms at Archbishop Ryan national school to meet immediate accommodation needs.

Griffeen Valley Educate Together national school is a new school which was established in the Lucan area in September 2002. The school is located in the temporary accommodation recently vacated by Lucan Educate Together national school. As the Senator is aware, at the Department's request the local authority reserved a site in the Griffeen Valley area for primary school purposes. The property management section of the Office of Public Works has agreed a price with the site owners and negotiations to acquire it to accommodate a permanent school building for Griffeen Valley Educate Together national school are at an advanced stage. A competition for the design and build of a 16 classroom school on this site has already taken place. Tenders resulting from this competition process are being evaluated and the school management authorities will be advised of developments. The targeted date by which the new building will be in place is September 2004.

At post primary level, the Department has already responded to the demand for additional school places in Lucan by approving major extensions at two schools in the area. Both extensions are currently under construction. A new permanent building for Coláiste Cois Life, the all-Irish post-primary school, is also at an advance stage of architectural planning. The Senator will also be interested to note that following consultations with the Department of Education and Science, South Dublin County Council has reserved a site for post-primary school purposes in the Adamstown strategic development zone. This is intended to help cater for the future needs of the Lucan area.

The Minister is satisfied that a combination of the measures outlined will satisfy the demand for primary and post-primary school places in Lucan into the future. His Department will continue to monitor developments in the area to ensure that any emerging additional demands are addressed as expeditiously as possible.

The Seanad adjourned at 3.25 p.m. until 1.45 p.m. on Monday, 24 November 2003.