Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am taking this matter on behalf of my colleague the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy O'Sullivan, and I apologise that she was not able to take it.

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter as it gives me the opportunity to outline to the House the current position regarding the accommodation needs of Gaelscoil Phádraig, Ballybrack.

The school is currently located in prefabricated accommodation on a site owned by Dún Laoghaire and Rathdown County Council in Ballybrack. The Deputy said it has been there for 20 years. I take his word for that; I did not realise it was that long although I knew it was a long time. It is agreed that the accommodation is totally unsatisfactory. The Deputy is also aware that it is intended that the school will relocate to a premises currently occupied by Ballyowen Meadows Special School pending the construction of a new school building for Ballyowen Meadows.

The major building project for Ballyowen Meadows Special School is at an advanced stage of architectural planning. During the course of the project, an appeal was made to An Bord Pleanála regarding the decision to grant planning permission for the Ballyowen Meadows building project. I cannot explain the 20 year delay. I can only say the last part of the delay was caused by the appeal to An Bord Pleanála. This contributed to some delay with the project. In February 2015, An Bord Pleanála upheld the decision to grant planning permission and I am pleased to say the building project is now progressing as fast as possible.

Specifically, the school's design team is preparing the stage 2(b) detailed design documentation for submission to the Department for review and approval. Assuming no issues arise in the review of the stage 2(b) submission, the project will then be authorised to proceed to tender, with a view to commencing construction late this year, 2015, or early 2016. I cannot say how quickly it will be built, hopefully it will get a good builder but it certainly is the plan to start construction at the back end of this year or early next year. That is the best I can give the Deputy at this stage. I know he wanted a guarantee that it would be in for September 2016. That might be a bit tight. It depends on the construction but the construction should start at the end of this year or early 2016.

Once the building project for Ballyowen Meadows School is complete, the vacated building will become available for Gaelscoil Phádraig. It will not be possible for Ballyowen Meadows to vacate the building until its new school is constructed. The Deputy understands that and is not asking for that. He is right, in the meantime, the Department has sanctioned a temporary mainstream classroom to Gaelscoil Phádraig for September 2015 to assist with its accommodation needs. I understand from the Deputy that will cause difficulties in terms of space but we also have to have accommodation for the students. The Deputy is looking for a guarantee and the start of construction is probably the best we can give and it looks like that should happen at the back end of this year.

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