Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I very much appreciate the Minister's presence here this evening. She has had a long day of engagement with Deputies and Senators on a wide range of issues over the course of this day. It is now past 2 a.m. and she is still here. I appreciate that. I made a comment about a Cabinet colleague of hers not affording us the same respect, but she is here and it is greatly appreciated. For those who are interested in the topic that we are going to discuss, it shows the seriousness with which she takes the issue.

The campaign for Killester Raheny Clontarf Educate Together school was started several years ago. I was involved in the campaign from the start. There is great interest in the establishment of an Educate Together school in the catchment area as laid down by the Department. The Department determined that there should be a new primary school for the catchment area of Killester, Raheny and Clontarf and so the competition, for want of a better word, was started and Educate Together was deemed to be the most appropriate patron body to take on the running of that school.

All was fine. However, with the school to be opened last September, a site within the catchment area was not found. A particular site was investigated for a period of time, but my understanding is that there was an issue with planning. After a long period of time, a site was found outside the catchment area, at Suttonians Rugby Club in Sutton, to enable the school to open. As a result of that, many parents who were enthusiastic about sending their children to this school thought otherwise because the idea of travelling from Clontarf, Raheny or Killester to Sutton and back again for an infant was just not going to work out.

I am not sure if the Minister is familiar with the geography of the area. Suffice it to say that having a school even on a temporary basis outside the catchment area when it is just trying to find its feet, to embed a culture and to embed a dynamic around the school was not going to work. On the basis that it would be a year, many people felt that over the course of that year the Department would work hard to ensure that by following September there would be a physical site in the catchment area. Obviously, the pandemic has most likely interrupted that process and parents will probably face into a second year on site in the rugby club in Sutton. The agreement from the off was that it would be a two-year arrangement.

What plans and processes are in place for the Department to ensure that a temporary or permanent site within the catchment area of Killester, Raheny and Clontarf can be obtained for this school so that it can embed itself in the community which it has been established to serve? It has not been established to be located in Sutton. It has been established to serve the students of the Killester, Raheny and Clontarf catchment area. Of course, priority is given to children who reside in that catchment area. The issue is very simple. I ask for an indication of what moves the Department is making. It would be great to have it this September. If it is to be September 2021, what is the likelihood that we can have Killester Raheny Clontarf Educate Together school in the catchment area of Killester, Raheny and Clontarf?

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