Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I acknowledge that the investment in school facilities has been an important feature of recent years. I assure the Deputy that we are sustaining the high level of building. Indeed, we have completed over 200 new schools, comprising more than 120,000 additional places. In terms of financial provision, almost €8.5 billion will be provided for investment in schools under the recent ten-year plan. This level of funding is unprecedented. We are committed to providing for children. Ireland is unique, in that no other European country has the same pressure of a growing school population that we do. The Deputy rightly acknowledges that meeting this increasing demand has been a challenge.

St. Michael's House special national school in Skerries was established in 1982. Enrolments are stable, with 30 pupils enrolled in the 2017-2018 school year and a staff allocation of a principal plus five special class teachers. The school is located in a rented building with temporary accommodation in Hacketstown. My Department is committed to providing a permanent accommodation solution. In that regard, a project to deliver a new school building for St. Michael's House special school on a greenfield site has been included in the Department's six-year capital programme. It is planned to provide a new building to accommodate a 14-classroom school, expandable to 16 classrooms, covering classes for pupils with mild to general learning difficulties, autistic spectrum disorder, multiple disabilities and severe to profound disabilities.

My Department is working closely with Fingal County Council in accordance with the memorandum of understanding on the identification and acquisition of a suitable site to facilitate the school buildings project. The site acquisition process for this school has been ongoing for some time. Initial efforts were focused on acquiring land in the vicinity of the school's current location, which was preferred by the school authorities. However, efforts in that regard were unsuccessful and the current site option was subsequently identified. The acquisition process was paused for some time while my Department engaged with the school authorities regarding potential alternative accommodation that was available at the time. Based on the outcome of that engagement, the site acquisition process recently restarted and negotiations with the relevant landowner are at an advanced stage. I confirm that a potential permanent site option has been identified and is being progressed. My Department, with the assistance of Fingal County Council, is engaging with the landowner. There are some clarifications required on technical issues regarding the development of the site, and this assessment process is nearing completion. Once there is agreement on the terms of the site acquisition and technical queries are clarified, it is anticipated that the conveyancing process can be advanced by the respective solicitors.

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