Shane McEntee (Meath, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Chair for the opportunity to speak on this issue and thank the Minister for Education and Science for her attendance. No doubt, like myself she is puzzled by what is involved. That said, nobody is more puzzled than the people of Laytown and Bettystown by what has taken place over the past two years with regard to this issue. I am only two years in politics and one of the first issues that came to my attention was the announcement of a new school for Laytown during the by-election.

Last summer, all the politicians of the area were called together in the first week of August to discuss what would be done in September for the 75 or 80 children with no school to go to. Deputies put their party allegiances to the side and mounted a campaign together to remove objections. The teachers of both existing schools were put under pressure and children were finally allowed admission to school, although their classroom was in a gymnasium to which toilets were added at the side, but without lighting. All those involved, particularly parents, then set out to find a solution to the problem.

On 6 October 2006, the Minister announced that a site for a new school had been secured. It was confirmed that officials from the Department had concluded a deal to purchase a school campus site for Laytown. Everybody hoped everything would go well, but last week it transpired the Department had applied for planning permission for a site it did not own. It had never even asked the owner of the land in question whether it could apply for planning permission for that site.

The Minister has stated that despite the announcement in 2006 that lands had been purchased, the purchase did not happen. Six months after the Department's announcement, it emerged the sale of the four-acre site for the school had not been completed. In a statement, the Minister for Education and Science admitted to difficulties with regard to the land for the temporary school.

I am not raising this matter for my benefit but on behalf of parents. I want to know what is going on. Who got us into this mess? How could the Department apply for planning permission for lands it did not own without the permission of the landowner? How could the Department say it had concluded a deal, but six months later say no deal was completed? The authority has been given the go-ahead to apply for planning permission on another site. Have those lands been bought? Is there a deal on the Minister's table that has not been signed since last October? A total of 107 children in Laytown and Bettystown will have nowhere to go next September. What has gone wrong? What are the plans for the future? Can we be given a guarantee that if there is a contract on the table and planning permission is granted, as everybody hopes, the Department will build a temporary school for these children to attend in September?

These people are well-educated. They do not want to see any politician, me included, any more. They believe nobody. I put aside my allegiance to my party and worked with the Minister's party colleague night after night to remove objections to the development. The Department was responsible for building the school. The Minister announced that a deal had been done but it has not been done.

The teachers, Maurice Daly and MaryCarpenter, were under serious pressure to get those children into the gym. The school of 600 had no room to move all winter but they succeeded. It was for the Department to set matters right. I know plans can run into difficulty and how hard the Department officials in Tullamore work. They have been courteous to everybody. We know that 2,300 classrooms need to be built. These people want to know what to plan for and where they are going. If planning permission is granted, for which the Department has applied, will the contracts be signed? Will the contracts which the Taoiseach announced on a visit a couple of weeks ago when he spoke of 1,000 new post-primary places for Laytown, be fulfilled? There is no site. The Department applied for planning permission on a site that it did not own. This put the livelihood of a local businessman, his wife and three children in jeopardy as they were seen as black sheep. The Department owes that man an apology.

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this matter as it provides me with the opportunity to reiterate the Government's commitment to delivering new schools for Laytown on schedule.

Prior to the 2005-06 school year there was only one primary school in the Laytown-Bettystown region, catering for children from junior infants to sixth class. Due to demand for increased school places, my Department sanctioned the provisional recognition of a second primary school, Scoil Oilibhéir Naofa, from 1 September 2005. We also agreed to a local proposal that the new school would be a junior school, catering for pupils from junior infants to second class, with the existing school, Scoil an Spioraid Naoimh, operating as a senior school catering for pupils from third to sixth class. Both schools are expected to grow to 24 classrooms.

Scoil Oilibhéir Naofa is housed in temporary accommodation on the campus of the senior school and has an enrolment for the 2006-07 school year of 181 pupils. The Department is working at a senior level with Meath County Council and the relevant authorities of the schools in Laytown to deal with the accommodation needs for September 2007 and onwards.

Meath County Council reserved a site of approximately 15.5 acres in the Laytown local area plan for educational provision. The land is owned by two individuals. In October 2006 I announced that departmental officials had agreed terms for the acquisition of the larger part of this site. My Department's relations with this landowner have been amicable and he has stated publicly that he is "very happy" with the deal agreed.

Terms were agreed for the purchase of the second smaller piece of land in December 2006. This second parcel was intended to be home to the temporary accommodation in the short term and then to provide access between the existing primary school and the permanent new school building. Difficulties have arisen, however, since the terms were originally agreed for this second piece of land, which could conceivably have delayed the provision of temporary accommodation. As a result my Department has now put a contingency plan in place.

This process involves a new planning application, lodged last Friday, for temporary accommodation for September 2007 on the much larger second parcel of land. The owner of this land has given his written consent to the planning application. Meath County Council has agreed that the planning application will be dealt with speedily, and provided we have a smooth run through the planning phase, we aim to start construction on the temporary school and temporary road in May. This will enable the primary school to open in September on this land and the permanent building for the school to be in place in September 2008.

The land in question is zoned for educational use. It is also of sufficient size to accommodate the new primary and post-primary schools. It should be noted that it is a condition laid down by Meath County Council that no further development can happen in this area until a primary school has been provided. The 16 classroom temporary school is sized to cater for the existing enrolment in Scoil Oilibhéir Naofa and its September 2007 intake. It will ensure that there are enough mainstream classes and ancillary accommodation to meet the school's needs until the new permanent building is available in September 2008.

The Department has appointed a firm of project managers to oversee and devise a masterplan for the project to provide an education campus for Laytown-Bettystown. The education campus will provide for a 24-classroom primary school and for a 1,000 pupil post-primary school, under the auspices of County Meath Vocational Education Committee and shared community and sports facilities. Meath County Council planning department approved the masterplan for the campus.

The new permanent 24-classroom junior school will be delivered under a design and build contract and the design and procurement phases of the programme are proceeding in tandem with the site acquisition. Departmental officials have briefed the two primary schools on the masterplan and project timescales.

I reiterate my commitment to ensuring that the new schools for Laytown are delivered on schedule and thank the Deputy for giving me this opportunity to outline the position on these.