Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am responding on behalf of the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn. I am pleased to be given this opportunity to inform the House of the position regarding the provision of new accommodation for Presentation College, Athenry.

As the Senator will be aware, meeting the current emerging demographic challenges for the school sector is one of the highest priorities of the Minister and his officials. The provision of school accommodation in areas of greatest need is the key to achieving our objectives in this respect. The Senator will recall that the Minister announced a five-year plan for school building projects in March 2012. More particularly, he also recently announced the 50 school projects scheduled for construction in the current year as part of a €2 billion capital investment programme. Through these announcements the Minister has identified the major school projects that will be undertaken to meet these challenges. These projects will commence construction over the duration of the five-year plan.

As Senator Higgins said, Presentation College, Athenry, is a co-educational voluntary secondary school in a town which has seen significant population growth in the past number of years. That growth precipitated the identification of Athenry as one of the areas in need of additional school provision at both primary and post-primary levels. The Minister is also conscious that a significant proportion of the students in Presentation College, Athenry, are currently being accommodated in temporary buildings and facilities. The need for new school places in the school is critical in that context.

Consequently, it is planned to deliver a new post-primary school with provision for 1,000 pupil places on a greenfield site in Athenry. This school building will replace the existing Presentation College premises. A site for the new school was acquired from Teagasc by the school trustees in late 2012.

I was not aware there was an issue with the site, but I will return to that matter. The site is currently the subject of pre-planning preparations for the project. The preparations are being undertaken by the National Development Finance Agency to which the project has been devolved for delivery under the new devolved model which is in use by the Department. Pre-planning discussions are taking place with all relevant stakeholders, including the board of management, nearby residents and enterprises and the local community in general. The discussions are ongoing and progressing. The target date to complete the project at Presentation College, Athenry, is 2014-15. It is hoped that by then students and staff will be able to occupy the fully equipped science laboratories, multi-media and technology rooms, music, art and home economics facilities and the special needs unit. I assure Senator Higgins that in the interim the Department is maintaining contact with the school to ensure there is sufficient accommodation for September 2013.

I thank the Senator for the opportunity to set out this information. I note the specific issues she raised, which I will bring to the attention of the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn.