Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputies Durkan and Cronin for providing me with the opportunity to, on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Foley, update the House on the position with respect to the acquisition of the three-school campus site in Celbridge, County Kildare, on behalf of the Minister for Education.

The construction of new school buildings for St. Raphael's Special School, Celbridge Community School and Scoil Naomh Pádraig are included in the Department of Education's schools building programme. It is intended that the new schools will be located on a site being acquired at Donaghcumper, Celbridge, as part of a campus development. In tandem with the site acquisition, the Department of Education is working on the accommodation briefs for the three schools, which is part of the preparatory work associated with the architectural planning process. The Department is committed to advancing the campus development as quickly as possible and will keep the school advised of progress in this regard.

I can confirm that the Department of Education has agreement in principle for the acquisition of a site to accommodate the three-school campus at Donaghcumper, Celbridge, and the acquisition process is at an advanced stage. The Department of Education is currently engaging with developers to finalise the details of the heads of terms, and officials in the Department have worked closely with officials from Kildare County Council regarding this site acquisition. The Department is continuing to actively engage with all stakeholders. Given the commercial sensitivities associated with land acquisitions generally, the Department of Education is not in a position to provide any further information at this stage.

Deputy Durkan has asked me to convey the urgency of the situation to the Minister, and I will certainly do that. Deputy Cronin spoke about a meeting next week, and I hope the schools will be in a better position after that. It is taking a long time to acquire the site. I hope the meeting next week brings more information and there is better news.

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