Joanna Tuffy (Labour)
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This is an important issue for the children, parents and staff of Gaelscoil na Camóige in Clondalkin, who have been seeking a permanent building for at least ten years. I look forward to hearing the Minister's response.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an Seanadóir as ucht na ceiste a ardú. Thug mé cuairt ar an scoil. I visited it and know it well.

The Department of Education and Science has always acknowledged the need to replace the building to meet the future needs of Gaelscoil na Camóige. However, it has been already established that the present site is unsuitable for this development and, in any event, is not on offer to the Department. Therefore, prior to any progress being made on a building project, a suitable site had to be identified and acquired. Enormous difficulties were encountered in trying to acquire a site in this built-up urban area. Through its normal procedures, the Department requested the Office of Public Works to identify possible sites for development. Unfortunately, no suitable sites emerged under this process.

Size, location, availability and cost are the critical factors in assessing site suitability. A site adjacent to the school comprising 0.93 acres was offered to the Department by the school's trustees but the asking price greatly exceeded market value rates. This, however, was irrelevant as the site on offer was even smaller than the current school site and was not adequate for the modern, purpose-built, 16-classroom school with the full range of ancillary accommodation required by Gaelscoil na Camóige to address the all-Irish primary needs of Clondalkin. A site of approximately 2.5 acres is the minimum amount of land required.

In the circumstances, the Department had to consider other options and was fortunate that the County of Dublin Vocational Education Committee had land that could be developed and was willing to make this land available. A number of issues had to be addressed by the Department and the VEC in bringing the site to finality, including a technical assessment for overall suitability for developmental purposes and a discussion with the local authority regarding its requirements. From the VEC's perspective, the site had to fulfil a number of statutory and procedural protocols before a final decision could be made.

At its December meeting, the County of Dublin VEC passed a motion agreeing to the disposal of land at Deansrath community college to the Department for permanent accommodation for Gaelscoil na Camóige, subject to the agreement of the Deansrath board of management and staff. The gaelscoil was told of the position on an informal basis at Christmas. The matter was thereafter tabled for the VEC's January meeting and the chief executive officer of the VEC wrote to the Department formally in late January confirming its willingness to make the land in question available for a permanent building for Gaelscoil na Camóige. This development enables the Department to proceed with plans to develop a state-of-the-art facility for Gaelscoil na Camóige and the matter has advanced to the stage at which the project can be considered for the commencement of architectural planning.

The Department is cognisant of parents' concerns in terms of the new location of the school, which is approximately 1.8 to two miles from the current temporary site. However, any number of schools up and down the country start in one location and are subsequently permanently located in another. This can also happen in amalgamation scenarios. It has to be remembered that, unlike other primary schools, gaelscoileanna do not have catchment areas and are not, therefore, confined to specific locations, although the Department will always try to relocate schools as close to the original location as possible. It is not realistic, however, in a large urban area to expect this to be easily achieved. School communities are usually aware of local land issues, so relocations are rarely if ever a problem, especially when a multi-million euro investment is on offer to ensure that the children concerned have a comfortable high-quality learning environment. Transport is provided for eligible pupils when relocations of this nature take place.

The Department wants to progress to a position where the needs of the current and future pupils of Gaelscoil na Camóige can enjoy the standard of accommodation to which they are entitled and it looks forward to working with the board of management to achieve this end.