Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)

There is an ongoing problem in providing school sites and developing new schools in rapidly growing areas. I refer to page 42 of the programme for Government, entitled High-Quality School Buildings and Planning for New Schools, in which a specific commitment is given to ensure that no rezoning of land for residential development can take place without a prior commitment to provide an appropriate portion of land for a school. However, the recent "Prime Time" special report showed that local authorities throughout the State are rezoning land willy-nilly without making provision for schools. With the exception of the provisions for strategic development zones, there is currently no legislation that would allow local authorities to require that school sites be provided as part of residential developments. This issue does not form part of the remit of the review group currently reviewing local government and proposing amendments to the Local Government Act. When will the Taoiseach introduce amendments to the Planning and Development Act to honour the commitment in the programme for Government?

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