Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

I assure the Deputy that the Government is acutely aware that the Fingal area of Dublin is the fastest-growing area in the country and that the Minister for Education and Science is working hard to ensure that extra school places are provided in line with or ahead of demand.

New schools are being built while the capacity of existing schools is being increased. All building projects in areas of rapid population growth are awarded a band 1 priority rating under the Department's prioritisation criteria for large scale building projects. This means they will be delivered in the fastest timeframe possible.

With regard to the 2006 to 2007 school year, a number of measures were implemented to ensure that significant extra classroom accommodation would be available at schools in Fingal to cater for demand. A total of 62 extra classrooms were approved and the majority of these were in place on 1 September 2006.

With regard to the provision of whole new schools, the Deputy will be aware that a major construction programme is under way in the Fingal area. A new school building has recently been completed at Mary Mother of Hope national school in the Littlepace Castaheany area, with an additional project under way. The delivery date for this project is September 2007. A new primary school campus is planned for a school site in Ongar. This campus will permanently accommodate Castaheany Educate Together national school and St. Benedict Ongar national school.

Other developments in the Dublin 15 area include the planned expansion of St. Brigid's national school in Castleknock and extensions to St. Brigid's boys' and girls' national schools in Blanchardstown. At post-primary level, a new 1,000-pupil post-primary school is being provided in the Phibblestown area of Dublin 15. It is intended that this site will also be developed to cater for a 16-classroom primary school. The provision of a further post-primary school in the area is currently under consideration.

New schools will also be provided in the Hansfield and Adamstown strategic development zones. Further north in the Fingal area, closer to the Deputy, a new 1,000-pupil post-primary school is being provided to cater for the needs of Portrane and Donabate. The school will be a community college under the aegis of the vocational education committee. The Minister is acutely aware of the needs of the Portrane and Donabate area and is determined to progress this as quickly as possible.

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