Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I propose to reply on behalf of the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy McHugh, who cannot, unfortunately, be here due to other commitments. I thank Deputies Burton and Jack Chambers for raising the matter and for giving me the opportunity to set out the position in relation to the accommodation needs of Pelletstown Educate Together national school. The school is currently in interim accommodation at Ashtown Road, Rathborne, Dublin 15, and that accommodation is currently sufficient. In September 2019, the school will require additional interim accommodation. The planning application for the additional interim accommodation was lodged with Dublin City Council on 25 February and a notification of a decision to grant was received from the local authority on 18 April. The final grant is awaited. The tender process for the required additional interim accommodation commenced in parallel with the planning application. In addition, the permanent-site acquisition process for the school is now complete. A planning application for the permanent accommodation for the school was lodged in January. A request for additional information received from the local authority was responded to on 26 April and a decision is awaited. Following receipt of planning permission the project will proceed to tender. Provided that no issues arise, it is envisaged that the permanent accommodation will be completed in September 2020.

In the context of the need for the school's interim accommodation to move from its current location at Ashtown Road in February 2020, I advise as follows. The school's interim accommodation is located on a privately owned site and the landlord had required the Department to confirm that the school would vacate the property at the end of January 2020. As the Deputies opposite have already confirmed, the landlord contacted the Department on 27 May to advise that it had carried out a review of the business plan and strategy for the site and was now agreeable to extend the lease termination date from the 31 January 2020 to the 30 June 2020. As such, there is no longer a need for the school to move to alternative interim accommodation in January 2020.

I have already outlined the position regarding the permanent accommodation for the school. The matter will be kept under review. The Department is in regular contact with and holds monthly meetings with the school's patron body, Educate Together, in respect of this and a number of other projects under its remit. It will continue to keep the patron body fully informed of progress.

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