Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

138. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if a school (details supplied) has applied for funding to secure a permanent site on which the school was supposed to be constructed in June 2016; the reason for the delay; and when the work will be completed. [33446/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

My Department is committed to providing a permanent school building for the school to which the Deputy refers.  This involves a planning matter and my Department has been working with all relevant parties to resolve it in so far as it has the power to do so.

In December 2012, outline planning permission to provide a permanent school building for the school was submitted to the County Council but was refused on the grounds of site access. This was appealed by my Department to An Bord Pleanála but subsequently withdrawn to facilitate submission to the Council of an amended outline planning permission in 2013, which was also refused on similar grounds.

This decision was appealed by my Department to An Bord Pleanála but refused. However, the Board considered that the matter of assessing alternative means of accessing these lands would benefit from a co-ordinated approach by my Department and the planning authority in the interests of achieving a comprehensive and balanced solution to ongoing access issues on this educational campus.

My Department and the Council have met to discuss appropriate access routes with a view to a further planning application being submitted as soon as possible.  My Department is also actively in discussion with relevant landowners to advance this process to a satisfactory conclusion.

Although the difficulty is fundamentally a planning matter which is not in the direct control of my Department, my officials are continuing to pursue all avenues available to them to resolve this matter in co-operation with the County Council.