Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the fact that the Minister for Education and Skills is here to take this Topical Issue and I thank him for his attendance. The issue relates to the purchase of a site for a national school in County Cork, Rochestown Educate Together national school. It is a relatively new school that was set up in 2013. It is a fabulous school under the leadership of Dr. Alan Sheehan. Having visited the school on a number of occasions, I can say that there is a palpable sense of enthusiasm within the school. They are passionate about education, but they are facing serious accommodation difficulties.

Since the school was established three years ago, staff and students have been accommodated in temporary accommodation in the grounds of Douglas Hall soccer club. They are grateful for that and it has worked reasonably well since then. However, the reality is that the school is growing rapidly and for the forthcoming school year, 2016-17, it expects to have in the region of 140 pupils attending the school so it will have to split across two campuses, Garryduff in Rochestown and the existing site. Clearly, that presents practical difficulties for parents and staff but they will get over them. The prize they are awaiting is confirmation that a site has been purchased for the permanent school building.

I am hoping the Minister can shed some light on this issue today. At the end of 2015, the school was included in an announcement by the former Minister as going to construction in 2017. It is now July 2016 and there is still no confirmation of a site being bought so that deadline is looming large on the horizon. I hope the Minister can provide some clarity on that issue.

I know from communicating with NAMA that a site of over 20 acres in the heart of Douglas is being sold by a receiver appointed by NAMA. I understand that this site is "sale agreed" with the Department of Education and Skills possibly with a view to accommodating Rochestown Educate Together national school and the new second level Educate Together school which is due to open in temporary accommodation this September. The Department will not confirm that and has informed the school that the site is not being purchased with a view to accommodating the school. I hope the Minister can provide some clarity on this issue.

I observed a Topical Issue debate last night where the Minister of State with responsibility for training and skills responded to another Deputy about a school. The Minister of State said the existing contractual commitments for 2016 now fully account for the funding that was allocated for 2016 under the previous Government and implied that no new commitments would be made in terms of school buildings as in contracts signed.

Will the Minister confirm if that is the case? Does it also relate to entering into a contractual commitment to buy sites? Will the Minister confirm if the Department is in a position to do that because the contracts are with the Department for the site in question, which is in the heart of Douglas and which the Department says it is not buying with a view to accommodating this particular school. It is sale agreed. The Department is doing work in terms of land surveying and geotesting on that site. I hope the Minister can provide clarity for the teachers, staff and parents so they can at least see a pathway to the acquisition of a site and the building of a permanent school building.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy McGrath for raising the matter. I share his enthusiasm for the development of this school under Dr. Alan Sheehan. There is no doubt it is a very popular school. It opened in 2013 and is in temporary accommodation. The last Minister for Education and Skills included it in the current six-year construction plan announced in November 2015. It was designated to go to construction in 2017 but a permanent site is required to accommodate this new school building.

The Deputy may be aware that the then Minister for Education and Skills signed a memorandum of understanding between my Department and the County and City Managers Association in 2012. This memorandum of understanding fosters increased levels of co-operation and formalises the local authorities' part in identifying and securing sites for educational use. In this context, my Department has been working closely with Cork County Council towards acquiring a permanent site to meet the needs of the new primary school. A number of potentially suitable sites were identified and were comprehensively technically assessed. Specific aspects relating to the development of some of the sites under consideration required significant investigation. In addition, the plans for infrastructure to access the Douglas area were also under review and clarifications about access to some sites have been required. The Department has examined several options, none of which provided a straightforward solution. The process has involved considerable discussions with relevant vendors and the local authority on the options considered. I can confirm that, subsequent to the analysis which has been carried out, a site option has been identified and it is being actively progressed. Given the commercial sensitivities associated with land acquisitions generally, I am not in a position to comment further at this time. I assure the Deputy that the acquisition of a suitable site for the school is very active on the programme of site acquisitions. My officials are aware of the limitations of the current temporary accommodation and every effort is being made to secure a suitable permanent site for the school as expeditiously as possible. Officials from my Department will be in contact with the relevant school authorities once the site acquisition process has been completed.

The Deputy raised a couple of other issues. On the issue of sites, the budget for school construction to which the Deputy and the Minister of State, Deputy Halligan, referred is separate from the budget for site acquisitions. The fact that the projects fully absorb our capacity for 2016 does not impinge on our capacity to conclude site deals. I am not in a position to enter into commentary on any specific site. For good, historical reasons there is a commercial sensitivity and until a deal is finalised it is not helpful to speculate on any individual site.

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for his reply. I welcome the fact that a site option has been identified and, as the Minister indicated, is being actively progressed. Hopefully, if I am joining the dots correctly, the site in question is the one currently at contract stage with the Department of Education and Skills though I understand the Minister is not in a position to confirm that. I welcome the fact the Department is in a position generally to enter into contractual commitments to purchase land with a view to accommodating schools and that the exhaustion of public funds in terms of commitments for school building does not apply to the acquisition of land. That is welcome.

There is an urgency about this. The school is moving to a split campus situation for the forthcoming school year, 2016-2017. There will be sufficient capacity across those two sites for one further school year - the 2017-2018 school year - but that is it then. At that point it will be in serious trouble. It is taking in two junior infant classes every year and there is growing demand for places at the school. It is in an area of very large population growth. There are a lot of young families in the Rochestown-Douglas area and there is a demand for this school. I ask the Minister to take a personal interest in this case to ensure the file does not gather dust, that the site is actually purchased and the next steps are then taken to move this through the process because when it comes to preliminary design, planning applications, tendering and so forth, to have this school going to construction next year is a challenge. I hope it can be co-located with the second level Educate Together school for the south suburbs area of Cork city which is opening in temporary accommodation at Nagle Community College this coming September. I welcome the Minister's commitment and ask him to take a personal interest and to see this project through.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I have been assured by the officials dealing with this that they recognise it is a priority. If they were in any doubt, I will convey to them the Deputy's points about the dual site, the pressure it is putting on the school and the ambitions, scale and growth of the school. I will take a personal interest to see that this can be delivered. These deals have to be nailed down permanently before we can commit that this will go ahead. I am optimistic and Department officials will work hard on this.