Kevin Humphreys (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I rise to raise a serious issue relating to Shellybanks Educate Together school, which opened in 2014 as a single-stream school. At the request of the Department of Education and Skills, it expanded to a double-stream school to facilitate the demand for school places in the area. The Department of Education and Skills has purchased Roslyn Park, an old secondary school that served the Dublin 2 and Dublin 4 areas very well for many decades. My understanding is that a fee of approximately €25 million was paid to purchase the Roslyn Park site. I understand that the site is designed to accommodate both a secondary and a primary school.

I want to ask the Minister about timelines, particularly with regard to the Roslyn Park site. When will we see a design for the primary school? When will we see a timeline for planning permission? When will planning permission be applied for? Could the Minister provide me with information regarding the number and type of classrooms? Will a temporary school be placed there in the mean time? My understanding is that a 12-room school will be placed on that site temporarily. I am concerned about playing facilities and locating a primary school in the middle of a major construction site.

The Harold's Cross greyhound racing track was purchased or is in the process of being purchased by the Department for an educational campus but there has been very little clarity about this. My understanding is that approximately €25 million is being spent on the purchase of the site. Last month, Dublin City Council changed the zoning to facilitate building a secondary school there. When will the local community know whether a secondary school will be built on the site? When will we know what the catchment area is because there is huge pressure for secondary school places in the Dublin 8, Dublin 6 and Dublin 6W areas? Many parts of that overall area have no secondary schools other than those of the fee-paying variety. The local community is very anxious to see a plan brought forward for the provision of a secondary school with a proper playing field because there are no playing fields in the Harold's Cross-Terenure area. The Harold's Cross site could provide not just an educational facility but also one, in the form of a sports ground, that could be enjoyed by the community in general. I am seeking clarity from the Minister of State on all these matters. There has been an expenditure, or a commitment to expenditure, of approximately €50 million in respect of these projects, but no clear timelines for the building works. When will we have certainty in this regard? I hope the Minister of State can offer comprehensive answers to the questions I have raised.