Neale Richmond (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and I congratulate her on her new brief. Having served with her on Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council many years ago, I am well aware of her passion for education. I wish her well. We enjoyed a reception in UCD last night where she more than held her own. Anyone who thinks they will have it easy with her will be surprised. Indeed, I will bear that in mind as I make my contribution.

When I was thinking about what I would say, I decided to download the speech I made seven weeks ago on this issue when the Minister for Education and Skills was present. I regret that little has changed since then and that is why I was moved to table this Commencement matter again as we reach the final week of the year in Ballinteer Educate Together national school. Classes are breaking up today, if they did not do so yesterday. The case history, with which the Minister of State will be familiar, is long. I attended the first meeting in 2010 when it was decided that an Educate Together school was needed in the greater Ballinteer-Stepaside area. We now have two schools, which are bursting at the seams and which have long waiting lists. One school set up in Stepaside has thankfully moved into excellent accommodation being built by the Department beside Belarmine estate. However, Ballinteer Educate Together national school is in limbo. Unfortunately, I regret that its situation is not being helped by the intransigence of the Department and its silence on many issues relating to parents, teachers and the wider school community. The numbers involved in this school are increasing exponentially. It is, however, a positive school.

A letter writing campaign was initiated in September. There was another in May and again a few weeks ago. The first two campaigns resulted in more than 500 letters to the Department. The responses received were minor. I appreciate the Minister's hands are tied on this in certain respects but one or two acknowledgements do not provide answers or relief. They just increase the frustration. I will give credit to the new Taoiseach. When he was contacted earlier this month, his rapid response was welcome, even though he left the detail to the Department.

Ultimately, the school is coping with two key issues. There is no end to the planning delays on the site agreed for the permanent school, which is beside St. Tiernan's, a school I know well as a former member of the board of management. Access issues need to be resolved and parents need to be reassured that the Department is 100% committed to new permanent accommodation for Ballinteer Educate Together national school on the St. Tiernan's site with good agreed access points and all the facilities a modern, progressive, growing school in a populous area requires, which marry well with the needs of the excellent secondary school.

The interim solution is to move the school, which will provide 11 classes in September, en masseto the Notre Dame campus where it will collocate with the new Gaelscoil that is moving from Clonskeagh and the remnants of Notre Dame secondary school as it eases out of existence. That is an unfortunate event but there is nothing we could do as public representatives. There is huge concern among school management and the principal that they do not know what they are moving into in September. They had one or two welcome meetings on-site with departmental officials. I have eight pages of questions that were put to them, which have yet to be answered. When the intention is to move an entire school to a new facility in such a short time, that adds to the stress and concern and it puts work on people whose job it is not to do this.