Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister for being present for this debate. The hour is late and, therefore, I appreciate her attendance.

She will undoubtedly be aware that planning permission has been refused at a new site for the Malahide Portmarnock Educate Together National School. I was there on Friday when I met its principal, Ms Emer Hoy, her deputy principal, Ms Ríona Wise, and Mr. Matt Harrison, a member of the board of management who is also a staff member. I walked around the school and looked at the accommodation. To say that it was less than ideal would be flattering. I pay tribute to the school staff and parents for keeping the show on the road, but the school has been in temporary accommodation for eight years. I understand that the need for primary education is decreasing in some areas, but that is not the case in my area. We are one of the fastest growing areas, not just in the State, but in Europe. As such, the need for the school is increasing and it has to be put on a permanent footing.

It is impossible for Emer or any of the staff to be able to plan.

I want to hear if the Minister can set out a realistic timeframe for the delivery of the new school because it looks like they have been put back to the start of what was a long process. As I have said, they spent eight years in temporary accommodation. We could have a conversation about what "temporary" means if it lasts for eight years. There comes a point when the word "temporary" has to be replaced with "inappropriate" if the accommodation is not appropriate. Having said that, the staff are doing their best to keep the show on the road for the sake of the pupils. There are simple things. For example, they have the use of a field but they do not have access to it because they do not have a gate to get into it. That would be an additional place for the kids to go and play. They are doing running repairs on the accommodation, which is less than ideal but they know they have it for at least the next two years thereafter. The hope would be that they would be moving into a new school. I hope the Minister will tell me that will happen but they cannot be in a constant situation of doing running repairs when they do not know when they will get their new accommodation.

Everybody agrees they need the new accommodation; there is no disputing that. The Minister, the parents, the pupils and the staff do not dispute that. We know there needs to be new accommodation and that it is in a part of the State where the population is growing, so the need is there. The staff want to hear if the Minister will commit her officials to working closely with Emer, the rest of the staff, the board of management, the parents and the representatives there to deliver this and to ensure they do not have to go through the same processes they have already gone through again. They are at this stage where they have spent eight years in temporary accommodation, including seven years in their current location. The news that the planning permission was not granted devastated the parents. I was going to come in and read out the emails and recount the situation to the Minister but she knows exactly what news like that will do to a community. The pupils who started originally are finished. They started in the temporary school thinking it might be a year or two years, maybe three at a push, but they are finishing primary school and moving on to secondary school. I am hoping the Minister has some good news for me tonight.

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising the matter as it provides me with the opportunity to update her on the building project to provide a new school for Malahide Portmarnock Educate Together National School on lands at Broomfield, Malahide, County Dublin. As the Deputy has outlined, Malahide Portmarnock Educate Together National School is currently in interim accommodation in the former Teagasc building at Malahide Road, Kinsealy.

Fingal County Council, under the memorandum of understanding between the Department and the City and County Management Association for the identification of new school sites, identified the site for the new school in Broomfield. The site was recommended by Fingal County Council as suitable for the development of school facilities and acquired in conjunction with Fingal County Council under the Fingal model agreement. Planning permission was submitted to the local authority on 4 March for the development of a new two-storey, 16-classroom primary school. The Department received notification that the planning permission application was refused by the local authority on 27 April 2022. The Department has had a post-refusal meeting with Fingal County Council, which was constructive. During the meeting council officials pointed out factors which could be addressed in a new planning application, including pedestrian access to and from an adjacent housing development. The Department's project manager and design team are liaising with the local authority in preparation for a new pre-planning meeting with a view to the submission of a new planning application for the school project as early as possible.

I am familiar with the school and I understand the case the Deputy is making on the long-term experience in temporary accommodation and the disappointment when it did not get through the planning process. We are continuing the work. We had a positive engagement at the post-refusal meeting and we are pursuing a pre-planning meeting with the intention of submitting a new planning application to move this apace. In saying that, I want to acknowledge, as the Deputy has, the extraordinary commitment from staff, students, the entire school community and the wider community. I know there is a huge investment that has been made and I appreciate the Deputy's bona fides in raising it here as well. An investment has been made by so many people in advancing this and it is our determination to look at making a new submission. We have gone through the process of the post-refusal meeting. The pre-planning process is the next step and then we will be submitting, as quickly as we possibly can, a new application to advance the school as quickly as possible.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister for the reply. I note that in the Minister's reply she says that as part of the post-refusal meeting, factors were pointed out that could be addressed in a new planning application, including pedestrian access. If that had been advised in advance then that would have been addressed because that is not a huge issue. It is something that could be addressed quickly and to have things put back, because of something that is not trivial because pedestrian access is important, but because of something that could have been addressed in advance, is deeply frustrating for the staff.

I wanted to hear a realistic timeframe from the Minister. She is saying the factors can be addressed. Can she commit that some of her officials will work with the school and Fingal County Council to bring this all together? It is a project that is nearly there. To be fair to the staff, parents and students, they thought they had done the heavy lifting on it but now they are here and they find themselves with more work to do. The problem they face is they do not want to be back at the start. If there are factors that can be addressed, how quickly can that be done? Can the Minister ensure that somebody from her Department will proactively work with them to get these issues addressed and over the line? The Minister knows well that the job of a teacher and a school principal is many and varied without adding architecture, along with a little bit of building and minor works, onto it. They are stretched.

I refer to the running repairs that have to be done to the temporary accommodation. Will it be possible to ensure that they can be fast-tracked? A lot of these works are required immediately in order to facilitate the expansion of the school. I appreciate that this was not envisaged because they thought they would be in their new school by now.

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I want to underline my clear appreciation and understanding of the school community and the position in which they find themselves. I am familiar with this case and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and others, have engaged with me on an ongoing basis on this school. On the planning process, we engaged in the pre-planning aspect of it and no one knows better than someone involved in a planning application that any issue can arise once a planning application has been submitted. We are re-engaging in the process in good faith and we are determined to ensure the facility will be made available as quickly as we possibly can. I say with sincerity to the Deputy that it would be unwise of me to predict a planning application process. I wish I could because that would be of enormous benefit to everybody concerned.

I am giving the Deputy an absolute commitment that we will move this as quickly as we possibly can. We immediately engaged with the post-refusal meeting and we are engaging in the pre-planning process. We will move this apace as quickly as we can, in deference to the great need in the community and for the school community. On the specific issues the Deputy has raised, we will engage on an ongoing basis on the shorter-term needs it might have and we will make suitable and appropriate provision for it. I am under no illusion as to the necessity and urgency of this appropriate provision and I give an absolute commitment, as I have done on an ongoing basis, that we will expedite this as quickly as we possibly can. That involves the appropriate engagement with the planning authority, which we will do. It is my expectation that we will meet all the criteria that are required.