Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

I wish to thank Senator Corrigan for giving me the opportunity of outlining, on the Minister's behalf, the position of the Department of Education and Science regarding the provision of a Holy Trinity national school at Sandyford, Dublin 18. It is proposed to build a new 24-classroom school on a 2.5 acre site. The project is currently at an early stage of architectural planning. The stage 2 submission, sketch scheme, is currently under review in the Department. The school's board of management will be kept advised of developments when this examination is complete. Under the national development plan, a sum of €4.5 billion is assigned to the capital requirements of the primary and post-primary sectors. Over €540 million will be spent on school buildings this year. The level of construction alone in the primary and post-primary sectors in 2007 is such that it will deliver over 700 classrooms to provide permanent accommodation for around 17,500 pupils.

The progression of all large-scale building projects from initial design stage through to construction phase is considered on an ongoing basis in the context of the Department's multi-annual school building and modernisation programme, in which the main focus is to deliver school places within rapidly developing areas. The progression of Holy Trinity national school, as with all large-scale projects, will be considered in this context. The Minister for Education and Science is committed to providing suitable, high-quality accommodation for the school at the earliest possible date.