Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Rochestown Educate Together national school has been open since 2013. Its opening was very welcome, as is the announcement of a site being established. This is a school in a rapidly growing and very urban area just outside Cork city. It met the desire for an education with an Educate Together ethos so it was a school that was very badly needed. Consequently, demand for places has been very high since the first year. There were 20 students in 2013 and there were 215 students in September so it is growing rapidly. However, there has been a rush to get accommodation sorted year after year almost without exception. This was initially on the grounds of the Douglas Hall soccer club and from 2016 onwards, on a second campus on the Garryduff Sports Centre site so the school is divided between two sets of prefabs on two sporting club sites in an area with very heavy traffic. As Deputy Michael McGrath outlined, there are gaps in terms of a staff room, special educational spaces and toilets and all those issues along with parents trying to travel back and forth between those two sites with their children, who could be split between the two campuses in an area with very heavy traffic, causes huge issues. There was a debate on other schools that faced similar issues before the recess. Indeed, this school has been going through this since 2013. With either temporary or permanent accommodation, it always seems to go right up to the wire or beyond it leaving the board of management to resolve it. We have been told it is at conveyancing stage. When does the Minister expect that the sale will be agreed and when will it be in a position to go to planning for the school?

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