Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)
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Question 530: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if she will urgently meet a representative of a school (details supplied) and an Oireachtas Member in order to progress the location of a site for the new Gaelscoil; and if she will progress the planning and design of the school which has been in substandard and overcrowded accommodation for the past 13 years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6485/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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At the outset, I want to assure the Deputy that the Department is anxious to provide a long term accommodation solution for the school to which he refers.

In this regard, the Property Management Section of the Office of Public Works, which acts on behalf of the Department in relation to site acquisitions generally, was asked to explore the possibility of acquiring a site for the school.

Following an advertisement seeking proposals in relation to possible sites a number of responses were received. Six sites have been visited and their technical suitability as a location for the school was considered.

Following this process, a site on the existing Tipperary Rural and Business Institute, TRBDI, campus emerged as the preferred option. This site is in the ownership of the Institute.

The TRBDI, however, has proposed to the Department that its campus be relocated to a large-scale technology park. Expressions of Interest were sought by TRBDI from the private sector to determine what exactly could be provided at the technology park in exchange for the Institute's current property in Clonmel. The Expressions of Interest sought required the incorporation of a suitable site for the school on the current campus or on an alternative site approved by the Department and the Office of Public Works. The Expressions of Interest received by TRBDI have been evaluated and detailed negotiations will now be entered into with the company that has submitted the tender provisionally identified as being the most economically advantageous.

When this process has been completed, the Institute will be in a position to make a final proposal to the Department for consideration and approval. At that point the situation in relation to a site for the school in question will be clearer. It would be more appropriate to meet with the school authority at that stage.