Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Bruton. I thank Deputy Rock for raising the matter as it provides me with an opportunity to outline to the House the current position relating to Gaelscoil Cholmcille. For the Deputy's information, I will outline the background to the establishment of Gaelscoil Cholmcille. It is recognised by the Department as a co-educational single-stream primary school catering for pupils from junior infants to sixth class. The current staffing at the school is a principal plus nine mainstream teachers and two permanent resource teachers. Due to the number of pupils enrolled, the school currently has a staffing complement of nine mainstream teachers. However, it continues to be recognised as a single-stream school by the Department.

In 2007, the Department agreed to buy a 2.7 acre site from Dublin City Council to provide accommodation for the school. Planning permission was granted in 2007 to construct a two-storey building containing 12 classrooms and ancillary accommodation. The Department constructed the new school on this site at a cost of almost €1.4 million and the building was occupied in April 2008. All statutory approvals, including planning permission, were secured for the development. The planning permission granted does not limit the period that the structure is allowed to stay in place. The expected lifespan of the school building is in excess of 25 to 30 years. More recently, the school has written to the Department seeking permission to develop the school to a two-stream 16-classroom school. This would require the construction of an additional eight classrooms. The school is making the case that it wishes to accommodate all applicants, as well as those children who may potentially emerge from the proposed residential development on the Dublin City Council lands at Oscar Traynor Road.

I wish to inform the Deputy that the Minister, Deputy Richard Bruton, recently met representatives of the school relating to the matter. Following this meeting, the Minister requested his Department to re-examine the demographic pressures in the catchment area. This work is now under way. This will involve examining future trends in enrolments in the school planning area, which includes Gaelscoil Cholmcille, and assessing the availability of capacity in all of the existing schools in the area.

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