John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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Question 181: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills if she will sanction grant aid to enable the new permanent resource rooms to be erected at a school (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37736/10]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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I can confirm that the school to which the Deputy refers has recently applied to my Department for additional accommodation.

The application is currently under consideration and a decision will issue to the school in due course.

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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Question 182: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding the proposed new school (details supplied) in County Cork; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37746/10]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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My Department is aware of the need for additional permanent school accommodation in the general Midleton area and, as the Deputy will be aware, Midleton has been identified by my Department's Forward Planning Unit as one of the areas projected to undergo increases in educational demand in the coming years.

In that context, my Department is currently in the process of acquiring a suitable site which is zoned by the local authority for education use in the Midleton Area and to this end my Department has applied for planning permission as part of the exchange of contracts.

When the acquisition of a suitable site is concluded, the Department will consider the optimal use of the site to meet the primary school needs of Midleton.

The school to which the Deputy refers opened in September 2008 and currently has provisional recognition from my Department. Responsibility for the provision of accommodation is a matter for the school Patron. In the meantime, my Department provides grant aid towards the cost of renting the school's temporary accommodation.