Caít Keane (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for attending to take this matter. I hope he will be able to tell me that he will put children first in terms of the Children First guidelines and the safety of children. The matter I raise concerns the Firhouse Educate Together national school and the premises in which it is located. The school is located in temporary, unsuitable accommodation which was originally built to be a community centre, not a school. The school is housed upstairs. The parents, teachers and local community are all very anxious about the unsuitability of the current premises for it.

Firhouse Educate Together national school is a very good one. The education provided and teachers are excellent, but the premises leaves a great deal to be desired, to put it mildly. It is absolutely unsuitable. If a safety analysis was to be conducted, it would not pass. The stairs are very steep and there is no wheelchair access. There is dual usage of the community centre and crowding at times when children are moving from one place to another. It is a serious issue.

The Department of Education and Skills is responsible for the safety of children, which is an issue in the school. When the school was accommodated in the premises, the Department stated initially, in September 2013, that it would be for four months. That stretched to six months and then eight. There is overcrowding in the staff room which is shared with learning support staff and when I visited the school, there was a child there who required special support. It is totally unsuitable. There is one toilet which is used by the public also. The community centre and the people in it are fine, but the community is being discommoded by having an educational establishment where there was never meant to be one. The community is very understanding and welcoming of the school, but it was to be temporary. It has been based there too long and, as time passes, is not viable.

The school had intended to grow. Owing to its good name, it had sufficient children enrolled to secure another teacher next year, but now parents are starting to look at the long-term position and wonder where their children will be if the school does not have a permanent location very soon. Some are beginning to look at other schools, even schools outside the area, if they wish to have their children attend an Educate Together school. If the school is to be viable, it must receive immediate assistance.

I asked the Minister for Education and Skills about this issue last November. In the south Dublin local area plan two sites were designated for education in the Firhouse area. The sites are available. I do not know if they are suitable or whether they are for the Educate Together national school, but perhaps the Minister of State might comment or offer some certainty on where the school will be located next September. Obviously, it cannot continue where it is located at present and operating in very difficult circumstances for the students, staff and parents. The safety issues must also be taken into consideration. The Minister must immediately find suitable accommodation for the school.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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I thank the Senator for raising this issue. As a Minister of State in the relevant Department, I am acutely aware of the predicament in which that school community finds itself. I take this opportunity to inform the House that I am not going to read directly from the prepared script.

As I understand it, the Firhouse Educate Together school was established to service a specific demographic demand within the Firhouse area. The Senator referred to the South Dublin County Council plan, etc., and in that context, the school should ideally have a permanent home within or as close to the geographical area in which it is currently located as possible in order to meet people's needs. A process is ongoing whereby officials from the Department of Education and Skills are working with their counterparts in South Dublin County Council in order to acquire a suitable site. In the context of the Department's geographical information system and analysis, the Ballycullen-Oldcourt area is considered a separate and distinct geographical area. The local area plan for Ballycullen-Oldcourt refers to the planned future additional population. This means that the area will have educational infrastructural requirements in its own right should the planned housing developments for it materialise.

I am given to understand that the process relating to identifying and acquiring a site for Firhouse Educate Together is ongoing. The Senator indicated that she previously raised this matter last November. It has been my experience that the process of acquiring land tends to be open-ended in nature. It is very difficult, for example, to put in place sunset clauses in respect of the acquisition of land or to disregard the commercial sensitivities involved. The process is ongoing and due to the kind of commercial sensitivities to which I refer, it is not possible to provide further information at this time. I am sure the Senator has heard that before and I do not wish to offer her any platitudes in respect of this issue. I am aware, however, from my dealings with the officials in the Department, that when interacting with local authorities, there is a process which must be undergone. The process is not seamless and can involve many twists and turns. That will come as no comfort to Senator Keane in the context of her attempts to represent the interests of the people who made representations to her. I assure her that I will raise the matter with the relevant officials in the Department and that I will exert as much pressure as possible in the context of establishing the current position.

Caít Keane (Fine Gael)
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I referred to the two sites in question because I am aware of both. I am also aware that one lies outside the boundary. The Minister of State referred to site selection and indicated that the process of acquiring land is ongoing. I am aware that attempts were made to acquire a public open space, namely, a football field and that the local community was opposed to this. Will the Minister of State confirm that the proposal to purchase this land is no longer on the table? There are several groups involved here, namely, the school community and those who play football and use the land in question for the purpose of engaging in physical exercise. When he refers to commercial sensitivities, I presume the Minister of State is referring to sensitivities which relate to some private as opposed to public land the Department is seeking to acquire. Seeking to acquire land from a local authority such as South Dublin County Council is one thing, whereas seeking to purchase it from a private owner is quite another.

I accept that there are commercial sensitivities involved but people must be allowed to know what is happening. In view of what is happening in respect of property throughout Dublin at present, the land is going to be for sale on the open market in any event. I do not want it to be a case that the sale of the land will be signed, sealed and delivered and that the new school will be built there. I want a school to be built which will be within the Firhouse area and which will suit the demographic needs of that area. If the Minister of State has the relevant information about a possible site in his possession, he should make it available. It should certainly be made available before September in order that those at Firhouse Educate Together will know that a site will be acquired for it.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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I accept those points and I recognise that Firhouse Educate Together is currently occupying temporary accommodation, which is certainly not ideal. I have come across situations such as this previously whereby schoolchildren are being obliged to learn in what can only be described as Dickensian conditions while they await the provision of permanent accommodation. I wish to give Senator Keane an undertaking to the effect that I will raise this matter within the Department. I must point out, however, that it is not only in respect of the acquisition of privately-owned land that sensitivities arise. I take the Senator's point regarding the upward trajectory of property prices in the Dublin area. However, sensitivities also arise when land is being transferred from one public body, local authority or State entity to another. There are many legalities which must be dealt with in that context. Regardless of whether it is a private or public entity involved, the process is not seamless. As a result, the acquisition of a suitable site is taking some time to bring to a conclusion. I fully acknowledge that. I will bring the points made by Senator Keane to the attention of the officials within the Department.