Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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Question 62: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the position in relation to correspondence regarding a school (details supplied) in County Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23150/09]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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The correspondence to which the Deputy refers has been received in my Department and it will be responded to shortly. With regard to the subject matter of the correspondence, my Department procured the property in question initially to act as a temporary home for a special school pending the delivery of a building project for that school and then to accommodate, on a permanent basis, the school to which the Deputy refers. The building project for the special school is currently in the early stages of architectural planning. I have announced details of my Department's capital programme for 2009. The project for the special school is not included in this programme. Therefore, it is unlikely that it will be progressed in 2009.

The progression of all large scale building projects, including this project, from initial design stage through to construction phase will be considered in the context of my Department's multi-annual School Building and Modernisation Programme. However, in light of the current competing demands on my Department's capital budget, it is not possible to give an indicative timeframe for the progression of the project at this time. In the circumstances, it is not possible, at this point, to say when the school to which the Deputy refers can move into the building