Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

The school to which the Deputy refers is an all-Irish primary school serving the west Dublin area. As the Deputy is aware, the area in question experienced rapid development in recent years requiring a significant number of interventions by my Department to ensure that emerging demands for extra school accommodation were met. These interventions comprised a combination of the expansion of existing capacity, where this was possible, and the provision of new greenfield site schools.

The position with regard to the specific school referred to by the Deputy is that last year an application for the recognition of a second Gaelscoil was received in my Department. In accordance with established procedures, the application was referred to the New Schools Advisory Committee, an independent body set up for the purpose of assessing and making recommendations in these matters.

In its report to my predecessor, the NSAC recommended that any extra all-Irish provision required in the area should be met, in the first instance, by extending the existing facility if this were possible. This is in line with my Department's policy and the recommendation of the NSAC was, therefore, accepted.

The patron body of the proposed new school appealed the recommendation before the new schools independent appeals board. The appeal was not upheld and the recommendation of the NSAC, therefore, remained unchanged. Plans then commenced to expand the existing school commensurate with the level of demand presenting. The agreement of the patron was secured for this course of action.

There is no evidence to suggest that the ethos of a school is impaired by size. In this instance, the school will remain an all-Irish facility and teaching resources will be provided to correspond with growth in pupil numbers.

With regard to appropriate accommodation, I recently announced the first phase of the 2005 school building programme which provided details of 122 major school building projects countrywide which will prepare tenders and move to construction during 2005. The school in question is one of those earmarked to progress in this manner. Pending delivery of permanent accommodation, temporary accommodation will be provided to meet the school's immediate needs for September 2005.

I stress to the Deputy the importance of optimising the use of existing provision as a means of meeting demand in areas of rapid population growth. Site costs place a huge strain on my Department's ability to deliver new school buildings and all schools must be prepared to expand to meet demand where site conditions make this possible.

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