Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Question 205: To ask the Minister for Education and Science her views on the expenditure of €45 million on 51 sites for new schools in the past five and a half years; her proposals to reduce the cost of sites for educational purposes for the future; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32766/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The purchase of new school sites is underpinned by a thorough assessment of the need for new educational facilities at primary and post-primary level in any given area.

In general, where the need for a new school site has been identified, the property management section of the Office of Public Works acquires the site on behalf of my Department. The process of site acquisitions takes account of all relevant factors, including public procurement procedures. My Department's policy on site acquisitions is to treat them with the strictest confidentiality until the acquisition has been completed. This is to ensure that my Department will achieve best value for money.

As part of the site acquisition process, my Department also monitors county development plans and area action plans and meets with local authorities as required to establish the location, scale and pace of major housing developments. An assessment is carried out of the likely implications of such developments in the capacity of existing schools and, where appropriate, the local authority is requested to reserve a site for educational purposes. Such reservations may ultimately result in the acquisition of the site and the development of a school or schools.

While it would be fair to say that the cost of sites impacts on the overall capital envelope available for school buildings it is important to note that the question of acquiring suitable land per se rarely in practice retards the delivery of a school building project in a rapidly developing area.

There is of course an issue as to whether my Department ends up paying a fair and reasonable price for school sites and what contribution, if any, a developer should make. The Deputy will be aware that provisions of the Planning and Development Act 2000 do not place any onus on developers to provide school sites other than at market rates. The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Roche, and I are considering whether legislative change might be of assistance or prove the best way forward here. I would remind the House that any changes in this area would require careful consideration in the context of constitutional protection for private property and indeed in weighing up how any reduction in the price per acre of any land given for schools development might impact on the unit costs and affordability of houses developed on the remaining lands.