Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

To provide further detail on the issues involved, as referred to by the Senator, the only access route into the property - to which the local authority has indicated agreement - involves acquiring additional parcels of adjacent land from two different third parties. It would also involve putting in place a roadway that will need to traverse a protected structure adjoining the site. A conservation architect was engaged to examine how this might be done to the satisfaction of the council without substantially materially impinging on the protected structure. The architect's report was submitted to the Department and was discussed with the council and the third party on whose land the protected structure stands and from whom the land for the road will also have to be acquired. This is a very complicated planning issue. Planning permission for the new building for Ballinteer Educate Together national school and a physical education, PE, hall for St. Tiernan's has been sought and rejected twice by An Bord Pleanála on foot of objections from the council concerning access. An Bord Pleanála asked that the Department and the council work through the issues to arrive at a mutually agreed solution in respect of the issue of site access.

The Minister has said it is imperative that all of the work is done to the satisfaction of the council in order to ensure that a further planning application has the best likelihood of success. If we rush into a planning application at this point without going through the process diligently and carefully, we could set the planning permission process back more substantially in the long term and, as a result, jeopardise delivery of the new school once again. The land adjacent to the school site is in the ownership of a third party and negotiations and agreement - of which the Senator will be aware and which I am sure he will respect - in the context of access are required before a planning application that is likely to be successful can be framed. These negotiations are ongoing. However, as they are commercially sensitive in nature - I am sure everybody will accept that this is only fair - it is not possible to comment further at this stage.