Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 235: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the position with regard to the provision of additional accommodation at a school (details supplied) in County Dublin; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4463/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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My Department has not received an application for capital funding from either the junior or senior school referred to by the Deputy. However, officials in the school planning section of my Department are reviewing the overall primary educational needs of the area in which both schools are situated.

As the Deputy is aware, a new school planning model involving published area development plans is being piloted in five areas over the current school year. Included in the pilot scheme is an overall plan for the north Dublin-east Meath-south Louth area. The need for additional primary facilities in that area will be considered in this context.

The purpose of this new approach to school planning is to ensure that, in future, the provision of school infrastructure will be decided only after a transparent consultation process. In this regard, parents, trustees, sponsors of prospective new schools and all interested parties from a locality will have the opportunity to have their voices heard in the process. Arising from this process, an individual plan will set out the blueprint for the future of educational provision in an area, which will be the touchstone against which all decisions on capital investment will be made for the following decade.

The draft plan for north Dublin-east Meath-south Louth area is nearing completion in the school planning section of my Department and I hope to be in a position to publish it shortly.