Liz McManus (Wicklow, Labour)
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Question 797: To ask the Minister for Education and Science her policy in relation to the removal of a school (details supplied) in County Wicklow from the centre of Greystones town to the outskirts; the analysis she has done to ensure that there is sufficient capacity to meet future population needs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14095/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Department is in receipt of an application from the school to which the Deputy refers to re-locate. The request comes about because the existing school site, which is only c1.5 acres, is extremely restricted. This has several implications notably, for providing additionality at the school to meet its escalating demand for pupil places, to make adequate special needs provision and to position the school to implement the PE curriculum (it has virtually no outdoor play facilities).

The Department agrees that the school requires to be expanded and enhanced and that the possibility of doing so on the existing site is slight. Therefore, in principle, the Department has no difficulty with the request to re-locate. Having said that, while the Department would wish to see every school having state of the art facilities, it cannot nor would not insist that any school should move from a location where it is happy. The reality is that Greystones requires considerable extra primary accommodation in the coming years. The existing schools, including the one to which the Deputy refers are not capable of being developed to meet the extent of additionality required. Therefore, the Department will be building a new school in Greystones to meet emerging needs regardless of whether or not the school in question is involved in it and it is moving on a site acquisition for this purpose.

The Department has committed to examining alternative options suggested by the parents of the school in question to arrive at a satisfactory solution to its accommodation needs and this has been put in train.