Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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423. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of site access negotiations for a school (details supplied) in Dublin 16; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46948/17]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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433. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of securing a site for a school (details supplied); the timeframe for the identification of the site and to deliver appropriate accommodation for the school; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47105/17]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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434. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to the fact that a school (details supplied) is in temporary accommodation far outside its catchment area and a permanent site for the school has yet to be identified; if his attention has been further drawn to the fact that parents of pupils applied en masse for the school transport scheme and despite far exceeding the criteria for the scheme had their application refused; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47106/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 422, 433 and 434 together.

The school to which the Deputies refer is currently located on the Notre Dame campus, Upper Churchtown Road, Dublin 14 pending completion of the permanent accommodation for the school at the St. Tiernan’s Community School site in Balally. This is within the Ballinteer/Stepaside catchment or school planning area. 

As the Deputies may be aware, my Department recently completed the purchase of the Notre Dame campus. Outline planning permission for a new primary school at the site in Balally was submitted to the relevant local authority in December 2012 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 This was appealed by my Department to An Bord Pleanála but subsequently withdrawn to facilitate submission to the local authority of an amended outline planning permission in 2013, which was also refused on similar grounds.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 was 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 local authority in the interests of achieving a comprehensive and balanced solution to ongoing access issues on this educational campus.

This is a complex planning issue and my Department is in ongoing contact with the relevant parties, including meeting with the local authority and third-party landowners on a number of occasions, with a view to finding an acceptable solution to the access issue. All aspects are being progressed in close liaison with the local authority and it is imperative that all of this work is done to the satisfaction of the local authority in order to ensure that a further planning application is successful. My Department is fully committed to bringing this project to a satisfactory conclusion as soon as the planning issues have been resolved.

In relation to school transport, under the terms of the Primary School Transport Scheme children are eligible for transport where they reside not less than 3.2 kms from and are attending their nearest national school as determined by the Department/Bus Éireann, having regard to ethos and language. 

A minimum number of 10 eligible children residing in a distinct locality, as determined by Bus Éireann, are required before consideration may be given to the establishment of school transport services.

Bus Éireann has advised that the criteria for establishing a service to the school in question have not been met.

The terms of the Primary School Transport Scheme are applied equitably on a national basis.