The school referred to by the Deputy was recently approved for grant aid towards the rental of temporary accommodation to meet its needs for September 2004. The school's permanent accommodation needs will be considered in the context of a review which is being undertaken of all projects that did not proceed as part of the 2004 schools building programme with a view to including it as part of a multi-annual school building programme from 2005, details of which will be announced later in the year.
The process of assessing and meeting the need for new educational facilities at primary or post-primary level in any given area requires a detailed examination of all relevant factors, including enrolment and demographic trends, housing developments and existing school provision in the general area.
As part of the needs determination process, the Minister for Education and Science is included among the prescribed authorities to whom local authorities are statutorily obliged to send draft development plans or proposed variations to development plans. My Department monitors these plans and meets with local authorities, as required, to establish the location, scale and pace of major housing developments. An assessment is carried out of the likely implications of such developments on the capacity of existing schools and their potential for expansion to meet emerging needs. In this way, every effort is made to ensure that there is adequate existing provision, or that timely arrangements can be made to extend capacity where necessary.