John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I understand.

I will press on with it in the hope that the Minister here this evening might be able to give some answers. In 2013, patronage was awarded to Educate Together for a 1,000-pupil school in Bray. North Wicklow Educate Together school subsequently opened in September 2016 in temporary accommodation on Putland Road in Bray. The school has 180 pupils and 60 of them are due to sit their junior certificate examination next year. The school is also set to grow to 300 pupils next September.

The school is on the school building programme and a site on Novara Road in Bray has been identified. The Department of Education and Skills and the former chief executive officer of the Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board, KWETB, Mr. Seán Ashe , struck a deal for a shared campus with the Bray Institute of Further Education, BIFE. There are issues with that site, including how it was selected. The failure to consult with BIFE and other stakeholders has created problems. There needs to be an investigation as to how that decision came about.

That is not my main point this evening. There are a number of issues. There is a pending crisis for the teachers and the pupils and the Department of Education and Skills is walking straight into this crisis. There is also a High Court settlement, of which the Minister may be aware, between the owner of the temporary premises where North Wicklow Educate Together school is currently located and the KWETB dating from 2015. Vacant possession of that premises on 30 April 2019 was included in the settlement. The site is also on sale on the open market.

Therefore, as of 1 May 2019, not only will the 180 pupils and teachers have no school but the 60 pupils due to sit their junior certificate examination will have nowhere to do so. The school needs answers as to what is going to happen but it is hitting a brick wall, as am I. It is getting no answers from the Department or the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy McHugh, as to what will happen on 30 April 2019 and where it is going to go. Next September, the school will grow to 300 pupils. They also have no idea of where they will be located. The selection of the proposed new permanent school on Novara Road was announced in June 2017 but there has been no progress whatsoever. It is possible that the board of the KWETB will vote against that proposal next Tuesday.

One way or another, temporary accommodation will be needed until a new school building is built for North Wicklow Educate Together school. Ideally, this temporary accommodation should be on the same site as where the school will ultimately be built. The big question hangs over us all as to where that site ultimately will be. The school needs answers and plans need to be put in place. If, for example, the temporary accommodation is to consist of prefabs, then planning permission may well be required.

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