Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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Question 392: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the position regarding an application by a school (details supplied) in County Tipperary for additional facilities and upgrading under her Department's building programme. [17359/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The school planning section of my Department is assessing the rationalisation of national schools in Cahir, including the school to which the Deputy refers. My Department has requested the local inspector to provide long-term projections for both the boys' and girls' schools to establish the extent of accommodation needed to facilitate the amalgamation. In addition, a technical inspection has been carried out on the existing buildings to determine which, if either, would be suitable to act as a host for the new school. A greenfield site solution will be necessary if a host does not emerge. The technical report will be available in my Department shortly.

In the meantime, the project has been assessed in accordance with the agreed prioritisation criteria for large-scale projects and it has been assigned a band 1.4 rating, which indicates the need for rationalisation. It will be considered for commencement of architectural planning when the various strands have been pulled together in terms of the long-term projected enrolment and a proposed accommodation solution.