Thomas Byrne
Question:13. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills to set out the status regarding the achievement of a permanent site for a school, details supplied. [18242/16]
View answerTuesday, 28 June 2016
Questions (13)
Oral answers (6 contributions)
The Minister will forgive me because I have tabled two questions with details supplied. I gather this one relates to St. Peter's national school in Dunboyne, which is a Church of Ireland school. It is the first since the foundation of the State to be established. It is an important school but there is no permanent site. I know the Minister is aware of it. At this stage there are not many schools in the country without a permanent site, although many are looking for buildings. What is the position? Parents want to know. We are aware of commercial sensitivities but these commercial sensitivities have been quoted for a considerable period on this project.
The Deputy is right. This has had something of a chequered history. The project to deliver a new school building was included as part of my Department's six-year capital programme announced in November 2015. The school is currently located in temporary accommodation. A potential site option was proposed by the school at an early stage in the process and, following assessment, was deemed to be suitable by the Department. The Department was willing to acquire this site, and departmental officials engaged in lengthy negotiations with the relevant landowner. Despite the best efforts of my officials, however, the land acquisition was not concluded due to issues outside the control of my Department.
Officials from my Department worked closely since with officials from Meath County Council to identify an alternative permanent site for the school. A number of site options were identified. Each was investigated by my Department in conjunction with officials from Meath County Council. Unfortunately, in the case of all options identified either the land could not be acquired from the landowner or the site was ultimately considered unfeasible to develop.
My Department has since identified a further site which is currently available and has been deemed suitable on technical examination. My officials have initiated negotiations with the landowner with a view to acquiring this site as a final solution.
I appreciate that the process has taken considerable time. In this case, although the Department was willing to acquire a site and despite the resources and time deployed, the process has been protracted and several options have been pursued. Unfortunately, none has yielded a successful outcome.
The inclusion of the project in the six-year capital programme demonstrates my Department's commitment to the delivery of a new school building for the school in question. I assure Deputy Byrne that my officials are working to acquire a suitable site as quickly as possible.
Will the Minister give a timeframe? How long will this process be? How long will it take? We have all been aware of the process at local level. We are keen for this to be done as soon as possible. Certainly, I have no wish to interfere in the commercial side of the Department or put pressure there.
In situations such as this and others that will arise as we need to build more schools in rapidly developing areas, the Minister will need to consider making greater use of compulsory purchase orders which have been used on a number of occasions for schools. He cannot just leave schools hanging. This has happened and should increasingly become part of the architecture of how we provide schools. If the Department can identify a suitable site, these powers are available and should be used. A school - a school such as this in particular - is a central part of the town. For the entire Church of Ireland community in south Meath, with its church, it is a crucial hub. We spoke earlier about school admissions and these schools must be protected. It is not enough for us just to speak about school admissions and protecting ethos, we need to invest in them to ensure they have the facilities they need.
It is encouraging that a suitable site has been identified. It is both technically suitable and available and negotiations have been initiated. Obviously, in a commercial situation I will not jeopardise it by seeking to identify timelines or deadlines, particularly given the history of disappointment.
The Deputy raises the wider issue of provision. In their planning of town development local authorities need to be more attentive to planning school needs. Our model only clicks in when the child is born and so on; that is what triggers provision. It is a good system in its own right. However, it would be helpful if local authorities that are planning housing and can anticipate the future need identified sites in their development plans.
I will ask officials to consider if CPOs should have a greater role than has been the case. It tends to be the nuclear option and can involve protracted legal disputes, as we have seen in other areas where they have been used. It is not an always a short and easy solution to issues. However, I will look at the issue.
I would be slightly concerned about the Minister's reference to the Department's model clicking in when children are born. I presume there is an earlier process because, obviously, once houses are planned and estates developed, one can assume the houses will be filled to some extent with children.
That is an issue worth looking at. Obviously, the first tangible piece of evidence is when a child is born. That is a very reliable data source for the Department. A PPS number is issued and enters the planning system. The child concerned is still four and a half or five years away from enrolment. It gives a planning horizon. Generally, the Department has very large catchments which are moving at fairly predictable levels. It would look at trends in births in particular areas. I will certainly ask officials if we can do better. It is a good model and has been pretty reliable. The Deputy is right in saying the integration with the local authority and planning could be better. I will ask if we can do better in that area.
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