Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I join my colleague, Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan, in raising this matter. It is so serious that the Inland Fisheries Board objected to planning permission for the school and took the matter all the way to An Bord Pleanála. As a result, there is now a condition that means the school cannot increase its numbers. I understand that the new county development plan will allow for only ten additional houses to be built in the area over the next five years. A large number of people want to live and rear a family in the area but now we have the problem with the school. There are more than 350 students in the school. As my colleague outlined, the school is dealing with students with special needs. It was so important to build a new school because 70% of the buildings in the existing school are prefabs. Despite this, the matter went all the way to An Bord Pleanála because the Inland Fisheries Board was so concerned about the treatment plant not having the capacity to deal with any increase in numbers in the school, let alone an increase in housing.

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