Tom Morrissey (Progressive Democrats)
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I refer to the provision of a primary school in a fast growing area in my constituency. St. Patrick's national school in Diswellstown, Castleknock, has been operational for three years with a complement of 280 students. Next year, because of constraints of space, the school will be able to take in just two classes. The Department of Education and Science must make provision for a site and decide with what method of construction or partnership model it intends to proceed. I do not want to make a big issue of the delay, but it is time the community was given the green light.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Senator for raising this matter as it provides me with an opportunity to outline to the House the current position in regard to the application for permanent accommodation for St. Patrick's national school in Diswellstown, Castleknock.

St. Patrick's national school is a new school under the patronage of the Archdiocese of Dublin, which opened in September 2001. Enrolments at the school have increased substantially since its inception and the school currently has an enrolment of 203 pupils. The school is accommodated at the nearby old St. Mochta's school buildings as an interim measure pending the provision of permanent accommodation.

Fingal County Council has reserved a site for a new primary school at Diswellstown and this site is the preferred option for the location of a permanent school building for St. Patrick's. The property management section of the Office of Public Works, which acts on behalf of the Department of Education and Science in relation to site acquisitions generally, is exploring the possibility of acquiring this site. While the Minister for Education and Science is aware that the owner of this reserved site has expressed an interest in building a school on the site, to date no firm proposal has been made to the Department of Education and Science.

The Department of Education and Science is disposed towards exploring any innovative approaches or new concepts in regard to the delivery of school accommodation, but will only do so in line with best practice in relation to public procurement. The Senator will appreciate that, in the absence of a firm and detailed proposal, it is not possible to judge the extent to which what may be contemplated reflects the characteristics of the public private partnerships which have already been entered into by the Department.

In the meantime, conscious of the need for additional pupil places in the Dublin 15 area generally, the Department of Education and Science is continuing to explore, through the Office of Public Works, the possibility of acquiring this site in the conventional manner. The budgetary allocation for 2004 and subsequent years will determine the rate of progress on projects and site acquisitions generally.

The Seanad adjourned at 8.50 p.m. until 10.30a.m. on Thursday, 6 November 2003.