Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have discussed this matter with the Senator previously and I am happy to set out the position today from my perspective and the perspective of the Department and Minister.

Harold's Cross is a co-educational, second level school, which will provide 1,000 post-primary places with four classroom special education needs units to serve the two school planning areas of Dublin 6 Clonskeagh and Dublin 6 west. The school opened its doors for its first intake of pupils in September 2020 in interim accommodation on the site of the former greyhound racing stadium at Harold's Cross. This will be the permanent location of the school. The site will also form a campus accommodating the permanent school for Harold's Cross Educate Together National School, which is also currently in interim accommodation on this site.

The joint building project for both schools is currently in advanced architectural planning and I am pleased to advise the House that the planning application is being lodged with Dublin City Council this week. In advance of lodging the planning application, officials from my Department met the school's representatives on 1 April last to share the plans for their new school. The brief for the school was discussed and it was confirmed that five hard court play areas were being provided. While the standard brief for post-primary schools is six, we are pleased to say that five will be provided in this instance. The school indicated an interest in potentially converting one or two of the ball courts, as the Senator indicated, to an AstroTurf pitch as part of the upcoming project or in the future. It was confirmed that the Department would not be providing this under the building contract as it does not provide funding for AstroTurf pitches. This approach is not particular to this school but is generally the case.

In subsequent correspondence with the school and notwithstanding the question of funding, it was outlined to the school that the possible replacement of a hard play area standard finish with an AstroTurf finish on one or two of the ball courts on this site is not a feasible proposition, as such a development would reduce the area of the available hard play space on what is a constrained urban site and would provide less flexibility in terms of student use and accessibility, potentially compromising the delivery of the curriculum. The Department provides hard play areas as per the standards outlined in the schedule of accommodation insofar as this can be accommodated within the relevant site and having regard to the particular requirements of the planning authority.

By virtue of the fact that there is a scarcity of land in urban areas, it is not always possible to achieve the ideal site size for school buildings. Where some of the elements required for a school site can be provided outside the designated site area, for example, traffic management, parking and playing fields, where it is possible to provide multistorey - above two-storey - buildings and where separation areas can be reduced due to the nature of permitted development on and adjacent to the site, smaller sites can be considered. Constraints in site sizes in urban areas mean that the full suite of external accommodation may not be provided in all cases. In such circumstances, priority is given to the provision of accommodation and services specific to the pedagogical requirements of the school.

I note what the Senator said and I intend to convey her comments to the Minister. I note what she said about a divided mesh curtain being cost-effective and about play, training and exercise. The Department's perspective is that these activities can take place on the five hard play areas. As the Senator said, the State is giving a significant amount of funding to this particular school and we hope it will work out advantageously for all concerned.