Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

I visited the Deputy's area on a few occasions recently and attended the opening of the new school in Hartstown. I spoke to teachers from a number of schools in the area and am aware of the pressures and the school needs of communities in rapidly developing areas, particularly Dublin West and mid-west where the population is growing dramatically.

Whatever about setting up a special unit, I assure the Deputy that priority is being given to school building projects in the area. I spoke to some of the officials concerned after my recent visit. A new school for Mary Mother of Hope national school in Littlepace is ahead of schedule and is due to open in September. There are two new schools, the Educate Together national school in Castleheaney and St. Benedict's national school on the site in Ongar. Extension projects for schools in Castleknock and Corduff in Blanchardstown are being progressed. A site has been secured for a new Educate Together national school in Tyrrellstown and that building will be provided as soon as possible.

Several extra new primary schools for the area are being developed and are at various stages of planning. Is there a particular one the Deputy wants to ask me about? I was given a long list of schools. There is a permanent building for a new 1,000 student post-primary school in Phibblestown. That will not be ready until the start of the academic year in two years' time. The Department is considering enabling the school to open before then in temporary accommodation because two years is a long time in that context.

A site has been reserved for a further post-primary school in Tyrrellstown and the Department, with the local authority, is examining site possibilities for a new post-primary school in the Castleknock area. The education reservation in the Hansfield SDZs allows for the development of a post-primary school for up to 1,000 pupils. A project manager has recently been appointed to oversee the development of education provision on the Hansfield site. There is spare capacity in two post-primary schools in the Dublin 15 area and the Department is satisfied that there are sufficient places to cater for current demand, even though every pupil may not secure a place in their school of first choice, which is a difficulty in the area. Enormous attention is being given to the area and new schools will be provided because of growing class sizes.

On the question of developers, I and a number of Members of the House were in Adamstown, where a few hundred people are living, to open a railway station in advance of the development of the area. I also saw the final stages of the school building, to be opened in September, in advance of people coming to live in the area. Building schools side by side with houses or in advance of houses, as in this case, is the proper approach. Politicians on all sides congratulated the developer in Adamstown on his initiative in driving ahead and exceeding the commitments into which he had entered to provide educational facilities. If more developers took that approach we would not have to play catch-up as we do in some areas.

If the Deputy wants to know about any other area, I will have it checked out. The officials gave me a long list of advancements and developments. There are probably more in this area than anywhere else in the country, not that they are not necessary given the enormous number of new houses in west and mid-west Dublin. The ones I mentioned are the main ones.

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