Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Senator for raising this matter on the Adjournment. The Senator has considerable experience of developing school projects in Fingal and is, indeed, a former member of the local authority. He is well aware of the urgent needs of the community in Fingal for further educational provision. I am pleased to provide the up-to-date position on post-primary infrastructure for the Donabate area.

As the Senator is aware and has outlined, the Government is providing a new, 1,000 pupil post-primary school to cater for the needs of Portrane and Donabate. The school will be a community college under the aegis of the vocational education committee. I am acutely aware of the needs of the Donabate-Portrane area and the Minister is determined to progress this project as quickly as possible.

The site for the new school has been made available to the Department by Fingal County Council under the terms of a cross-Government agreement finalised in July of this year. This arrangement, which will provide school infrastructure in tandem with shared community facilities, will have a broader application throughout the functional area of Fingal County Council where it is expected up to 20 new schools will be required over the coming years.

A lot of work has been done by officials of the Department of Education and Science and Fingal County Council in recent months to agree the terms of an overall framework agreement which will now enable the site in Donabate to transfer to the Department and to make arrangements for the sharing of significant extra facilities, including sports facilities and a library, between the school and the local community. The innovative arrangements being put in place will ensure enhanced facilities for the school and maximum benefit for the community.

Arrangements are now in train for the transfer of the designated site from Fingal County Council to the Department, which is key to moving the project forward. Once the legal process for the transfer of the site has been concluded, the project can move to the next stage.

The project is of the highest priority for the Department, as evidenced by the assignment to it of a priority band 1 rating under the published prioritisation criteria for large-scale building projects. I assure the Seanad that the Minister shares the anxieties that the new school be built as soon as possible.