Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

We are committed to delivering the two new schools for Laytown on schedule. Two portions of land were needed for this. I announced in October that a deal had been done for the purchase of the larger portion of land. The owner of that portion of land, which is needed for the development of the new school, has indicated he is very happy with the deal.

A second, smaller portion of land was desirable for the temporary accommodation which would be needed pending the building of the new school and for access. Difficulties have arisen with this site, which is why, with the written permission of the owner, we applied last week for planning permission for the temporary school on the larger portion of land. Meath County Council has indicated to us it will allow this to progress as quickly as possible through its planning procedures, so I am hopeful, providing there are no major delays in the planning process, we will be on site in May to ensure the temporary building will be provided in September for the students who need it.

The indication given in October referred to the larger portion of land. There seems to be confusion among people who thought we were referring to a different portion of land.

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