Ivana Bacik (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for that very full response. I welcome the announcement she made that the planning application is to be lodged this week. As I said, I and the school have welcomed the positive updates from the Minister of State and the Minister on the planning application for permanent accommodation. That is clearly very welcome, not just for the school community but for the local community too.

It is also very welcome that an indoor sports hall and five hard court play areas will be provided and I acknowledge that. However, the lack of provision for an AstroTurf playing area will hamper the provision of a full sports curriculum. I am grateful to the Minister of State for saying she will convey to the Minister the comments I made, in particular around the provision of a mesh curtain, to explore whether there is some way of creating greater flexibility for play areas for the school. If there could be further consultation on this, that would be really welcome.

The standard brief is to provide six playing areas in a school, whereas the new school is only being provided with five. It will be located in a very constrained area where there is a serious shortage of accessible playing pitches for children and sports clubs in the area generally. I think in particular of Ranelagh Gaels, a rapidly growing local sports club which lacks any permanent home to play in. I raised this issue previously with the Minister for Defence, Deputy Simon Coveney, and the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Colm Brophy. Cathal Brugha Barracks playing fields could and should be developed further and made more accessible for local clubs to use. I thank the Minister of State for her comments and again ask her to take them back to the Minister.