Christy O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 473: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if her Department is actively seeking a site in Skibbereen for the new community school. [29913/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Agreement was reached between the trustees of the three existing post primary schools in Skibbereen to amalgamate into a single school.

The Property Management Section of the Office of Public Works (OPW) was requested to source a suitable site to facilitate this amalgamation. To date, however, the sourcing of a green field site has proved very difficult. Following advertisement a number of site were identified and examined. Those considered potentially suitable were then discussed with the Local Authority — Cork County Council. Following this process no site emerged that was deemed suitable from the perspective of both my Department/OPW and Cork County Council.

Because of the difficulty in sourcing a green field site my Department decided to investigate the possibility of utilising the Rossa College site to facilitate the proposed building project. To this end a feasibility study of the site and building was commissioned in order to determine how best to provide for the long term accommodation needs of the proposed school. While the outcome of the feasibility study was indeed positive with regard to the provision of a new school there were some issues to be resolved regarding access and my Department requested the OPW to actively pursue a solution in this regard.

My Department has been advised by the Trustees of the amalgamating schools that they are opposed to the use of the Rossa College as the site of amalgamation. However, because of the opposition to the Rossa College site this option is no longer being pursued. My Department will continue to work to identify a suitable site for this amalgamation project and will keep the Trustees informed of progress in this regard. Once a suitable site has been secured, progression of this project will be considered in the context of my Department's School Building and Modernisation Programme.