Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Under the memorandum of understanding in place between local authorities and my Department in respect of the acquisition of suitable sites for schools, officials in my Department continue to liaise with officials in Cork City Council in regard to a site for the school, Le Chéile, in respect of which the Deputy is inquiring.

A number of site options have been identified and assessed by my Department in conjunction with officials from Cork City Council. Unfortunately, in the case of most of these options the land could not be acquired from the landowner or the site was ultimately considered unfeasible to develop for a variety of technical reasons. However, two potential site options have been identified and negotiations are currently under way. These site options include potential campus arrangements with Gaelscoil An Chaisleáin.

There is ongoing active engagement with Cork City Council, including with its planners in the context of the ongoing development plan review process. This consists of a number of communications via phone calls, email and conference calls specifically in regard to advancing this.

I appreciate that the process is taking a considerable length of time, but I can assure the Deputy that the acquisition of a suitable site for the school is very active in the programme of site acquisitions and every effort is being made to secure a suitable site for the school as expeditiously as possible. I know this is a high priority for the Deputy. He has continued to engage on an ongoing basis on this and I assure him we wish to expedite this as quickly as we possibly can. He will appreciate and be aware that negotiations in respect of site acquisitions are, by their nature, sensitive and for that reason I am not in a position to provide further specifics. I assure him it is a matter of priority for the Department.

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