Mr. Oliver Cussen:

I will try to deal with all the points briefly, and if members think I have dealt with an issue too briefly, including the important question of who I am, they should come back in. I will deal with the issues in the sequence in which they were raised and will come back to that important point made at the end.

Deputy McConalogue asked about the term of my tenure. As I understand it the tenure, subject to the outcome of today's proceedings, is three years.

On the question of how long it will take to complete the project, there are some issues, including a significant legal case which is before the courts on the construction of the two quads I mentioned. Subject to that being built within a reasonable period, it is planned to have 10,000 students on the campus in 2018. The figure of 10,000 is about half the DIT student population, including full-time and part-time students. By 2020, the business and other schools could be in place, but Bolton Street and other issues will arise. Bolton Street is quite close to the site, there may be issues on how it will be dealt with and it may be possible to integrate it into the development. I am speculating out loud but I do not have the detailed knowledge. One would hope that in the early 2020s that most of DIT would be located on that campus.

I am not aware of a problem with funding but Deputy McConalogue might well say to me that I will quickly become aware of one in the sense that funding is always an issue. In this case, however, which everybody has mentioned is an exciting project, DIT has great potential to use public private partnerships and other mechanisms to fund the buildings without compromising in any way the integrity of the project. For example, planning permission was granted for the two quads in July 2015, which are public private partnerships and will go ahead as there is no upfront capital outlay by DIT and the rent over a number of years will pay for it. Likewise in the strategic development zone there is a plan to provide 2,100 beds in student accommodation, which also can be structured financially in a way which minimises the capital call on the State because of the ability to draw in revenue. This is not unfair or improper revenue but is revenue generated from what students pay for accommodation. I hope that for a relatively modest level of capital in total a significant return can be generated because of the ability to fund the project in different ways from public private partnerships or direct revenue from students and so on.

Deputy O'Brien raised the question of the primary school, which I know is a significant issue for the local community, particularly the proposal to go from 16 to 24 classrooms. I note the points raised by the Chairman about choice, the impact on other schools and the social background of people who choose to go to one kind of school as opposed to another. As I understand it, the school is on the Grangegorman site. It has been assessed by the Department of Education and Skills and the preferred option in terms of the overall facilities and services that can be provided is for a 24-classroom school. I am very conscious, even from my brief period in the area, that there is very significant concern locally about the impact, especially on the other local schools and how it might affect the existing pattern of schooling in the area, as mentioned by the Chairman and Deputy O'Brien. The proposed change in size from 16 classrooms to 24 classroom must go through the planning process. I think as part of that process there will be further consultation with the local community and further investigation of the types of issues raised by members and what the actual impact will be.