Ivana Bacik (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and thank her for being here to take this Commencement matter. I have asked for the Minister for Education to provide me with an update on the status of a school's application for the construction of a permanent building and to provide a timeline for the commencement of construction. The matter relates to a school in my local area, indeed a very small distance from where I live, namely, the new Harold's Cross Educate Together Secondary School, which opened just recently, in September 2020. Its enrolment numbers are projected to reach 1,000 secondary school pupils. It is a co-educational secondary school. The projection is that it will have four classrooms and a special educational needs unit. It serves the two school planning areas of Dublin 6 Clonskeagh and Dublin 6W. It is currently housed, however, in temporary buildings at the site of the former greyhound racing stadium at Harold's Cross. This will also be the permanent location of the school, which will form a campus comprising a permanent building for the secondary school and a permanent school for Harold's Cross Educate Together National School, the primary school, which is currently also in interim accommodation on the same site.

I tabled a Commencement matter relating to this school on 9 December last because at that point the principal and school community had been in contact with me to say they were concerned about the delays in progressing the construction of the permanent building on the site. Staff, students and parents are all very anxious that the construction be commenced or at least that they get a timeline for construction. Therefore, on 9 December I put this matter down on the Commencement of the House. I was told by the Minister then that the planning application would be lodged with Dublin City Council by mid-quarter 1 of 2021. That would have been by mid-February. Unfortunately, I was informed just last week that the planning application was not in fact submitted to Dublin City Council by that date, and clearly we are now in mid to late March. I therefore tabled this matter at the request of the school community seeking to be provided with a timeline for commencement of construction and to get an update on the status of the application. I was told that the planning application was at stage 2(a) in December but, as I said, on 9 December the Minister, Deputy Foley, had confirmed to me that the planning application was intended to be lodged by the middle of the first quarter.

The secondary school and the primary school form a very vibrant school community. Despite all the challenges of Covid, the secondary school has opened successfully and has a large waiting list for 2021. There are 37 students enrolled for the current academic year, and I am told that for September 2021 an additional 48 student places are sanctioned by the Department but 180 applications have been received. There is clearly no space available, or there will be insufficient space, to accommodate projected numbers certainly from 2022 and beyond. The school would need to offer 72 places in 2022 to meet demand. The matter is very pressing. The students, staff and parents are all very anxious to receive some clarification from the Department on the status of the application and the timeline for construction of a permanent building on this site.