Seanad debates

Thursday, 12 October 2017

Commencement Matters

Schools Site Acquisitions

10:30 am

Photo of Neale RichmondNeale Richmond (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise the issue of Stepaside Educate Together secondary school. Stepaside has been in the news quite a lot recently in the context of its Garda station. As a local resident, I can confirm that it is an ever-growing area, with many issues causing concern to the local population, not just the Garda station but also education facilities, community facilities, housing and so forth.

The Minister will be aware that the secondary school to which I refer opened in August 2016. I had the pleasure, along with Councillor Emma Blain, of attending the opening. The school opened in prefabricated classrooms in the car park of a local rugby club in Kiltiernan. The school has moved for this academic year to prefabricated buildings on a site being shared by Stepaside Educate Together national school in the Belarmine development. It is on the building list of the Department for 2018. The question that the school community and the wider Stepaside community is asking is where the permanent, 1,000 pupil school will actually be located.

This is an excellent school which I have had the pleasure of visiting many times to meet pupils, the principal, teachers, parents and others who are involved in it. It is a leading school in terms of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, STEM, education, with its revolutionary Bridge21 programme. It has embraced, in its short life, a healthy school ethos, has established a football team, organised many extracurricular activities as well as winning both an amber and green flag in its first year of operation. There is a massive demand for places in this school. It already has a huge school population, with strong enrolment and a waiting list. My own niece is one of many children who has already received a response to a letter of query. There are three Educate Together national schools in the immediate area feeding into this secondary school, as well as a number of other schools, including a significant number of minority faith national schools.

I must stress that this is a rapidly growing area. Indeed, it is one of the fastest growing local electoral areas in the country. I had the privilege of representing it for just under seven years on Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and I must say that for the entire time that I served on the council up until today, discussion centred around the question of when the area would get a secondary school. During my second year on the council, we agreed the relocation of a fee-paying secondary school from Blackrock to Sandyford. That school is now open in a fabulous new building and is thriving. Other than that, however, the only other two secondary schools are just outside the local electoral area. The local electoral area has a population equivalent to that of County Leitrim but has only one small, private, all-girls secondary school.

Sites have been identified under the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown county development plan for school use but I fear that an opportunity has been missed because the Department has still not identified a permanent site. The cost of land is rising rapidly, especially in this part of south Dublin. The school itself is growing and demand for places is also growing. Many of the pupils currently enrolled in the school may go through all six years of secondary level education without ever getting into a permanent school. This must be a priority for the Department. I am hopeful that an announcement will be made soon because the current accommodation is unsuitable for even medium-term, not to mention long-term, use. I ask the Minister to provide an update on the future location of this school.

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Richmond for raising this matter. I am fully aware of the concerns to which he refers. As the Senator has outlined, the school opened in September 2016 on the grounds of De La Salle Rugby Club in Kiltiernan. It then relocated to temporary accommodation on the site of an Educate Together primary school at Belarmine in Stepaside.

A major project to provide permanent accommodation for this school is included on my Department’s capital programme. Pending delivery of the permanent post-primary school building, it is planned that this school will, on an interim basis, share the new school building which is being provided for the Stepaside Educate Together national school when it is delivered.

As the Senator may be aware, my Department has been working closely with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council under the memorandum of understanding towards the acquisition of a permanent site. Engagement with the council in this respect commenced as far back as 2012. However, as the Senator will appreciate, in this highly urban area there is very limited availability of suitable sites and this, coupled with the high demand for land generally in the area, has led to a protracted site acquisition process.

In respect of the permanent site, I am pleased to inform the Senator that a suitable site option has been identified and a formal offer has been made to the landowner to acquire the site. My Department is awaiting confirmation from the landowner with regard to formal acceptance of this offer. Due to commercial sensitivities, it is unfortunately not possible to disclose the location of the site at this time until formal confirmation of the Department’s offer is received. However the school patron, Educate Together, will be informed of the proposed location as soon as it is possible to do so. The acquisition of the site will be subject to agreement on some technical design issues and satisfactory completion of the conveyancing process, but if agreement in principle is confirmed, it is envisaged that preliminary design work in respect of the school building project can commence while the site acquisition is being completed.I wish to assure the Senator that every effort is being made to progress the permanent accommodation for the school as expeditiously as possible. In the meantime, my Department will continue to liaise with the school on accommodation needs.

Photo of Denis O'DonovanDenis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

That is positive news.

Photo of Neale RichmondNeale Richmond (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Extremely positive. I offer my extreme gratitude to the Minister for such an excellent contribution. I am very grateful. I would appreciate it if he could keep me and the school community up to date as soon as it is feasible, from a commercial point of view.

Photo of Denis O'DonovanDenis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister and Senator Richmond. I propose that we suspend the sitting until 11.30 a.m.

Sitting suspended at 11.10 a.m. and resumed at 11.30 a.m.