John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I thank Senator Corrigan for raising this matter as it provides me with the opportunity to outline to the Seanad the Department's capital programme for 2008 and to outline the current position on the provision of a secondary school for the Leopardstown-Stepaside area. The Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, would like me to clarify that modernising facilities in approximately 3,200 primary and 730 post-primary schools is not an easy task, given the legacy of decades of under-investment in this area as well as the need to respond to emerging needs in areas of rapid population growth. Nevertheless, the Government has shown a consistent determination to improve the condition of school buildings and to ensure appropriate facilities are in place to support the delivery of a broad and balanced curriculum. The Government has dramatically increased investment in the school building programme from slightly more than €90 million in 1997 to almost €600 million this year. Under the lifetime of the national development plan, almost €4.5 billion will be invested in schools. This is an unprecedented level of capital investment which reflects the commitment of the Government to continue its programme of sustained investment in primary and post-primary schools.

As Senator Corrigan may be aware, a developing areas unit was set up in the Department of Education and Science to focus on the school accommodation needs of rapidly developing areas. The main emphasis in 2008 was on providing sufficient school places in these developing areas, as well as delivering improvements in the quality of existing primary and post-primary school accommodation throughout the country.

Officials from the planning and building unit of the Department of Education and Science have met Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council officials a number of times regarding the education infrastructure requirements across the county, particularly in the context of ongoing developments at Kilternan and Stepaside. It has been determined that if all the current planned developments in those areas reach completion, an additional 2,600 primary school places and up to approximately 2,000 post-primary places will be required in the general area.

In the course of examining the need for additional provision at post-primary level in the context of developments at Kilternan, Stepaside and Cherrywood, the Department has identified surplus capacity of approximately 1,100 places in the existing post-primary schools across the south Dublin area. However, as it has been determined that there will be a future requirement of up to approximately 2,000 post-primary places, the Department has requested the local authority to reserve two sites for schools in the relevant local area plans. The Department will continue to monitor the demand for post-primary school places in the area to ensure that any extra demand is met in a timely manner. The acquisition of suitable sites for school developments will be kept under review in this context.

I thank Senator Corrigan for providing me with the opportunity to address the House on this matter and to outline the current position.