Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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Question 176: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if he intends to consult the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government with a view to amending legislation in order that designated serviced school sites and possibly buildings are provided free of charge to the State as part of the granting of planning permission for all housing developments over a certain cumulative number of units in a given geographical area. [9762/04]

Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)
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While I am concerned at the cost to the State of acquiring lands for providing new schools, my Department has a number of proactive strategies to ensure that the requirement for schools are addressed in a timely manner that provides value for money to the taxpayer.

Officials in the school planning section of my Department are strengthening contacts already in place or making contact with the planning authorities in each of the local authorities to enable informed decisions to be made in planning future provision. A specific forum, the Dublin school planning committee, chaired by officials of my Department interacts with the Dublin local authorities in this matter. This forum comprises representatives of the local authorities in Dublin together with representatives of the patron bodies of primary schools.

I welcome in particular the identification of strategic development zones since this process creates the correct impetus for the provision of land at reasonable cost for school developments in the context of overall housing developments. I have indicated my willingness to consider innovative ideas that comply with procurement procedures that will ease the burden on the taxpayer and ensure educational facilities are provided in a timely fashion.