Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am glad the Minister is here to take this debate. The school in question is Rochestown Educate Together national school in Rochestown, County Cork. It is a fabulous school and under the leadership of Alan Sheehan and his team, the staff are doing a wonderful job in incredibly difficult circumstances. This school opened in 2013 and now had 208 pupils but is across a split campus. One part of the school is on the grounds of Douglas Hall soccer club in temporary accommodation and the other part is in Garryduff Sports Club, again in temporary accommodation. The split campus arrangement has presented real difficulties for parents, pupils and staff. Some families have to drop their children off at the two campuses. The classrooms are too small. The yard at Garryduff is extremely small. A room is being rented there for support teaching. There is no school hall for PE or assemblies and there is no staff toilet at the Douglas Hall campus. This is just a sample of the issues that arise on a day-to-day basis. It makes it an entirely unsatisfactory for staff and pupils alike.

What is the up-to-date position regarding the acquisition of the site for the permanent school building on Old Carrigaline Road in Douglas? We were told in December 2016 that a site had been identified and were told in January 2017 that there was agreement in principle. Since then, we have been told that it is at conveyancing stage. There has been no further information. There is a real lack of information and engagement from the Department. Coming up to the start of every school year, the school has been left to its own devices to try to sort out temporary accommodation. People are asking when the site will be bought and what the temporary accommodation arrangements will be like in September 2018 if, as expected, the permanent school building is not in place at that date.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Rochestown Educate Together national school has been open since 2013. Its opening was very welcome, as is the announcement of a site being established. This is a school in a rapidly growing and very urban area just outside Cork city. It met the desire for an education with an Educate Together ethos so it was a school that was very badly needed. Consequently, demand for places has been very high since the first year. There were 20 students in 2013 and there were 215 students in September so it is growing rapidly. However, there has been a rush to get accommodation sorted year after year almost without exception. This was initially on the grounds of the Douglas Hall soccer club and from 2016 onwards, on a second campus on the Garryduff Sports Centre site so the school is divided between two sets of prefabs on two sporting club sites in an area with very heavy traffic. As Deputy Michael McGrath outlined, there are gaps in terms of a staff room, special educational spaces and toilets and all those issues along with parents trying to travel back and forth between those two sites with their children, who could be split between the two campuses in an area with very heavy traffic, causes huge issues. There was a debate on other schools that faced similar issues before the recess. Indeed, this school has been going through this since 2013. With either temporary or permanent accommodation, it always seems to go right up to the wire or beyond it leaving the board of management to resolve it. We have been told it is at conveyancing stage. When does the Minister expect that the sale will be agreed and when will it be in a position to go to planning for the school?

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputies for raising this issue. I know it is an issue of considerable concern because this school was opened in 2013 and now has enrolment of up to third class so, clearly, finding permanent accommodation for the school is a priority from the Department's point of view. There were attempts to find a site. We have been working through the memorandum of agreement with Cork County Council and one site was being pursued. The current site, which is deemed particularly suitable, is now the preferred the option. I think the Deputies know that efforts had been made to look for other sites before this one was settled upon. There was an agreement in principle in February 2017, as the Deputies acknowledged. The Department then requested draft contracts from the vendor, which was the first step. The site is not accessible and aspects of the design and delivery of the access road to the site needed to be discussed with the landowner. In the meantime, work has been ongoing on this.

On foot of these discussions, the vendor provided draft contracts in August 2017 and this enabled the Chief State Solicitor to commence the conveyancing process. That process has commenced and I am not in a position to say when it will be completed. The legal people will have to be satisfied that there has been due diligence and such. I assure the Deputies that there is no attempt to slow this and the Department assures me that while the site acquisition process is going on, it is not hindering the delivery of the permanent accommodation for the school as preliminary design work on the project has commenced. The design team has already had some engagement about that with officials in Cork County Council and will shortly be holding formal preplanning discussions with the council with a view to further advancing the project. The Department is acutely aware of the difficulties outlined by Deputy McGrath with the two campuses that parents are trying to deal with. I assure the Deputies that we will make every effort to conclude this and proceed to the next design stage to provide permanent accommodation.

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for his reply. He acknowledges in it that we are looking at another school year in 2018 and 2019 where the school will be in temporary accommodation. That will be the sixth year in some children's primary school lives in this school in temporary accommodation. I do not know how long it takes to purchase a site after the price has been agreed but will the Minister assure us that this is not because his budget for land or site acquisition has been exhausted? I welcome that preplanning discussions are going to commence, hopefully in parallel with the conclusion of the acquisition phase. It is possible, however, that until contracts are signed, this site could be lost. Someone else could come in with a higher bid at any stage because no contracts are signed. Where would that leave us if this site was lost? I ask the Minister to take a personal interest in this. Our objective is to get it over the line; that is what it is all about.

Will the Minister ensure that the plans for the next school year, from September 2018 onwards, are agreed well in advance? That would avoid a repeat of previous years when, as Deputy Ó Laoghaire said, school authorities were left to their own devices right up until the last minute. It is not fair on anyone. We need personal interest from the Minister and commitment to complete this both with regard to site acquisition and having proper planning and an agreement in place for temporary accommodation for the next school year which will unfortunately come around quickly.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I will address the matter of the school again. I want to emphasise that this seems to be a policy issue and that these matters always seem to come up to the wire. This school is split across Garyduff Sports Centre and Douglas Hall. The educate together secondary school is in Nagle. There are other schools in Carrigaline as well. Both of those schools go right up to the wire when trying to source things. There is still great uncertainty, even as the year progresses, as to what the situation will be next year. There is an admission that we are looking at temporary accommodation for 2018 to 2019 which is disappointing and concerning. It is not clear to me that either of the existing sites are capable of supporting any more prefabs or temporary accommodation. The question is whether we are looking at a third site or relocating some of the existing school to another site. Much of that is unclear and I am disappointed to know that we are in that situation. I understand that indications have been that it is still at the conveyancing stage but that it could take until the end of the year. If that is the case, it is very likely that another school year will be spent in temporary accommodation. I urge the Minister to examine the issue of temporary accommodation and how that is handled in the Department as a general rule on a national level. I ask the Minister to ensure that no effort is spared to ensure that this site for a rapidly growing school is secured by the Department to ensure that there can be a permanent home for what can be a very successful and valuable school for the locality.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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To reassure the Deputies, to be fair to everyone, a number of alternative sites had to be pursued. It was not an open and shut case of a site being available that could be pursued. This site became available. It is zoned for education purposes so I think that gives security. We are at an advanced stage in that process of conveyancing in that the work has been done and the vendor has submitted a contract which is with the Chief State Solicitor. No delay is being put in its way and no budgetary issue stands in the way of delivering this. I take the Deputies' points about temporary accommodation and how that will be provided for in 2018 to 2019. I do not think it is a question of finding a national strategy because every case such is individual. One tries to find sites and temporary accommodation while we find the permanent sites and build.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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May I come in for a second?

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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It has been a just-in-time approach. We have had to build for 20,000 places each year and that has necessitated some new schools opening in temporary accommodation while acquisition, delivery and so on are handled.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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There is an issue with the timescale.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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It is not as if there is a magic formula for nailing down temporary accommodation that can be designed in Marlborough Street.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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The point I am making is that, in any of these examples I have come across, planning applications are lodged too late and there are difficulties with county councils and boards of management are consequently struggling. The gap after the application is made is too tight.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I have seen in my area that there are problems with council applications for temporary accommodation. I take note of the points the two Deputies make and will bring that back to my Department and see if we can finalise plans early so that people have a sense of certainty. That can be easier said than done in individual sites. As the Deputy says, if the gap after the application for the site is tight, what do we do about temporary accommodation? I will bring that back to my officials and ask them to examine that in view of the fact that this is still at early design and planning stage.