Ms Caroline Conroy:

I am a chairperson of the parents' committee in Scoil Chaitríona and a parent of two lads in the school. My daughter will also be going to the school in the near future. From a parent's point of view, I will have to take my kids out of the school if this goes ahead. There is no way I could put them at risk. When I was deciding what school they would go to when they were still babies, it was a long process. I wanted them to have their education through Irish and took a long time to decide where to send them. We have to make a trip to get there as their national school was in a football club, which was unsuitable, before being moved further out from the area. I have to make that trip every day and committed to doing so because I want them to have the Irish language. I did not have a great experience with Irish and I definitely did not want them to have that. My husband and I made the decision to send them to that national school and, because we live locally, we decided Scoil Chaitríona was the best fit. It was the best decision we ever made for our two lads who are having a whale of a time, in particular my eldest who is in transition year and is off to Italy tonight.

The placing of a drilling site at Na Fianna, which my lads are also in, will destroy it and will also have a massive impact on their school. There is no way the school will be able to operate. One will not be able to open a window with the noise and dust and it will not be possible to have the kids cycling or walking unattended. As a parents' committee, we have been fundraising for bike racks to encourage children and staff to cycle more because of the massive congestion out on Mobhi Road, which is awful and bumper to bumper on a daily basis. I try to get my lads to cycle and they do it most days albeit, depending on their mood or the weather, they may walk or take the bus. When they do, I have to tell them to use the path as the risk is unbelievable at the minute. If one were to put that site there, we will have 100 trucks going in and out, spewing diesel. Research has been done on that and An Taisce reports that 3,400 people died prematurely in 2013 due to air pollution. TII now wants to add another 100 diesel trucks to a built-up area which is already suffering from air pollution.

There are very few green spaces on the northside of Dublin. This is one massive one. The site at Na Fianna is used to the maximum extent by schools, the club itself and other local groups. Community groups use the clubhouse. It is not like it is used for a few hours here and there. The benefit it provides to the area is huge. On the traffic, I note that there was an accident last week on Mobhi Road. I have to go down Santry Avenue with my daughter and the traffic was backed up to the M50 exit at Ballymun. That is how bad it is. It is an absolute bottleneck. It is maddening that we do not even have a proper bike lane on the road there, yet it is proposed to allow 100 trucks to use the road. Placing a building site at Na Fianna flies in the face of current Government policy, which is all about a healthier Ireland. Dublin City Council is promoting play here, there and everywhere. There is no way that can happen if this goes ahead. Under Healthy Ireland, we are dealing with an obesity crisis among our children and it is so unfair that they have to deal with this.

As members of the parents' committee, we are trying to work on that. That would all stop if my children had to leave that school. It would impact our family and lots of families. It is not just that they go to school and can go somewhere else. Our family life would be impacted because we want them to have the Irish language. We want them to have the best start, as one does as a parent, and we want them to have the best future they can have. That is not going to happen if this goes ahead.

To TII and NTA, I note this is a quality of life issue as well. There are other alternatives that would not have the massive negative impact this would have on our community. This is the future of a generation in north side Dublin. It is not that unusual a project for these bodies - I am sure they do these projects all of the time - but this will have a massive impact on us.

For me, it is a waste of taxpayers' money to be conducting any more reports, consultations, meetings etc. It is a waste of our precious time and that of the witnesses to be engaged in this. They should look at all the evidence we have presented today and make the right decision, which is not to proceed with this development here because there are alternative sites. Thank you.