Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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156. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason a compulsory purchase order is not available for a school (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49860/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy may be aware, my Department does not have statutory compulsory purchase order powers but Local Authorities have, on a small number of occasions, used their powers to assist in the acquisition of land for educational use. This generally occurs where a landowner is unwilling to sell a site which has been zoned for educational use. 

While the CPO process has been used previously for school site acquisitions with the assistance of local authorities, it is generally only suitable when all efforts to reach agreement have been unsuccessful and all other options have been exhausted. A CPO process does not necessarily represent a speedier or more cost-effective outcome.

In the case of the school to which the Deputy refers, officials in my Department are currently working with relevant parties to progress matters with a view to reaching a resolution to the outstanding issues and as such a CPO is not considered appropriate at this point.