Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is because he is the witness most likely to have answers to the very valid points that have been made. He stated that most school sites are not owned by the Minister and decisions relating to the retention of open green spaces within the lands on which a school is situated are, therefore, a matter for the landowner. That is the elephant in the room. Ms Ryan ably highlighted, as did Senator Gallagher, that the Department needs to take more cognisance of it.

Ms O'Connor referred to our system of primary funding as unique, which it certainly is. It is bizarre that in the 21st century almost all of our education system is privately owned. What plans has the Department for moving away from that situation, as referred to by Deputy Catherine Martin? At times, it makes proper planning and building almost impossible.

How many of the planned new schools will be situated on State-owned sites? We want to find that out so that we can know that we are moving away from the outdated model of State-funded education without State ownership of the lands on which schools are built. It strikes me as especially ironic that a host of religious institutions still owe money to the State but we seem to be stuck in the 19th century thinking that it is okay to fund State education while leaving the land owned by a party other than the State. That strikes me as quite bizarre from every perspective. What are the Department's plans for dealing with the elephant in the room, the fact that we do not own the sites on which schools are built? Mr Loftus indicated that is often a fundamental problem. I ask him to give us further information in that regard, if he has it. If he does not have such with him, I ask him to follow up with the committee to inform it how many of the 314 schools analysed and the 42 planned are or will be located on State-owned sites. It strikes me that we will keep going around in circles until we have a proper, coherent plan to build a democratic process of schooling such that we are not at the whim of property owners.