Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Labour)
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Go raibh maith agat. I thank the Minister of State for taking this debate. It relates to the Killester-Raheny-Clontarf Educate Together school, which has been given sanction for opening in September of this year after a long campaign. In fact, it is a year since I held a public meeting in Clontarf trying to get a campaign going. As a result of the patronage competition, shall we call it, Educate Together came out on top and an announcement was made that the school would open in September of this year. Many parents are delighted to hear that. However, I am slightly perturbed by the news that it will be a one-stream school as opposed to a two-stream Educate Together school, which is also sanctioned for Dublin 13 in Howth.

In that period of time around and after the campaign, parents have been asking where the school will be located. The catchment area for the school is quite defined. It borders the Malahide Road, the Clontarf Road, the Tonlegee Road and the Kilbarrack Road. We were assuming that the school would be housed within that section, but what has actually happened is that two solutions have been found in the one area. Both new Educate Together primary schools are going to be housed together in the Suttonians Rugby Football Club, outside the catchment area. This smacks to me of a lazy decision by the Department. It is understandable to find one solution for the Dublin 13 Educate Together, and put it in Suttonians temporarily, but to lump the other Educate Together in there, outside of its catchment area, does not make any sense at all to me. What has happened now is that the momentum behind the school has been undermined. Parents who live in Clontarf, Raheny or Killester, who were intending to send their children to this school, do not really fancy the idea of going all the way out to Sutton and back, and have since withdrawn their children's' names from the enrolment in the school.

I would like to give some background on this. There have been numerous attempts to establish a multidenominational school in the Clontarf area and the communities around Clontarf going back probably 30 years, and they have all been unsuccessful. Schools have ended up in Glasnevin, Marino or North Bay in Kilbarrack. There has never been a successful campaign until this one, and now we find that the very location of the school is going to be outside the catchment area. The Department needs to re-engage with the process to find a temporary location within the catchment area, which should not be that difficult. It has made a lazy decision in order to locate the school in Suttonians Rugby Football Club, alongside the other Educate Together school. The starting up of a school and the ethos and momentum that surrounds it is so important in the early days, and now we find a number of parents who are very disappointed. First, it is a one-stream school, so it is difficult to get into in the first place.Second, if a child is offered a place, it will, as we have discovered, have to travel all the way to Sutton and back. A return trip from Clontarf to Sutton is about 14 km. It is not reasonable for parents to drive infants to Sutton and back just so they can access multidenominational education.

I ask the Minister of State to engage with his Department to reconsider the final decision to use Suttonians Rugby Football Club as the temporary location of Killester-Raheny-Clontarf Educate Together school, re-engage in the process to find a temporary location within the catchment area and ensure this school gets off to the best possible start.

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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I thank the Senator for raising this matter. It gives me an opportunity to set out for the Seanad the position on the temporary site for Killester-Raheny-Clontarf Educate Together school. As the Senator will be aware, the Government announced plans in April 2018 for the establishment of 42 new schools between 2019 and 2022, including a new eight-classroom primary school, to be established in the Killester-Raheny-Clontarf school planning area and which will open in September 2019 in suitable interim accommodation, pending delivery of the permanent school.

The Department appointed a project manager in July 2018 to assist with the work of prioritising the procurement of interim accommodation for the school, which will open in 2019. Numerous locations within the school planning area were considered in regard to the interim accommodation for the school but could not be secured due to the lack of suitability or availability, or prohibitive zoning issues. Therefore, in order to ensure the school could open in September 2019, as announced, it was necessary to look for interim accommodation in adjoining school planning areas.

On 15 March 2019, a planning application was submitted to Fingal County Council for a location at Suttonians Rugby Football Club, John McDowell Memorial Grounds, Station Road, Sutton, D13 AH97. The notification of the decision to grant planning permission was issued by the local authority on 2 May 2019. The new primary school will open in September 2019 in suitable interim accommodation pending delivery of its permanent building.

With regard to the school's permanent location, potential site options within the school planning area have been identified and are currently being assessed. I thank the Senator for giving this opportunity to outline to the Seanad the position with regard to the interim accommodation for the new Killester-Raheny-Clontarf Educate Together primary school to be established in September 2019.

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Labour)
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This is probably one of the most disappointing responses I have received. I have raised a number of issues concerning education with Ministers and I generally have reasonable interaction but this is probably the most disappointing response. I have a two-page answer, of which only the following sentence sheds any light on the issue: "Numerous locations in the school planning area were considered in regard to the interim accommodation for the school but could not be secured due to the lack of suitability or availability, or prohibitive zoning issues.” Is the Minister of State saying the residents who have engaged in this process, campaigned and pre-enrolled their children are stuck with Sutton for the coming years? Is that how it is to be? Is this the end of the matter? Can the matter be reopened? I am not overly enthusiastic about the response I got. I want to know whether the Minister of State can impress on the Minister and the Department that they are completely undermining the validity of this entire project by insisting on parents taking a 14 km round trip to Sutton and back. Sutton is outside the catchment area of the school. I do not accept that the Department has gone out of its way to find suitable accommodation but could not do so due to the lack of suitability or availability, or prohibitive zoning issues. It seems it found one answer for Dublin 13 and made the same decision for Killester-Raheny-Clontarf. This is a lazy decision which needs to be revisited. I would expect a much better response from a Department if it were genuinely taking this matter seriously.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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I do not know whether the Minister of State can shed any further light on the matter for the Senator.

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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As stated in the reply, the project manager was appointed in July 2018, which was almost a year ago. Much of the time spent on this by the project manager was spent trying to source a site within the school planning area.A suitable building could not be found due to a lack of suitability or availability, or prohibitive zoning issues. The planning permission has been given for the site. It is an interim site and will probably be used for a maximum of two years. It is important that we get on with building the permanent school within the school planning area, for which some sites have been identified. I accept that the situation is unfortunate and that some people have to travel a good distance to the school. That is not ideal but the Department is not lazy. Rather, it is motivated to ensure that the schools it provides are within the school catchment area. It is my understanding the project needs to go ahead to ensure that the school will be ready in September.