Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The school building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is being delivered under my Department's Design & Build programme. The project is currently in architectural planning with the planning application being finalised and due to be submitted to the local authority shortly.

The project is to deliver a 1,000 pupil post primary school + 4 classroom Special Educational Needs Unit and includes a Physical Education (PE) hall to cater for indoor sports such as basketball, volleyball and badminton as well as a fitness suite. Two outdoor ballcourts are also to be provided, one at ground level and the second at rooftop level. My Department has aimed to provide as much play space as possible in the context of the restricted nature of this urban site and the level of school accommodation to be delivered.

Due to the scarcity of land in urban areas it is not always possible to achieve the ideal site size for school buildings. Where some of the elements required for a school site can be provided outside the designated site area (e.g. traffic management, parking, playing fields, etc.), where it is possible to provide multi-storey (above two storey) buildings and where separation areas can be reduced due to the nature of permitted development on and adjacent to the site, smaller sites can be considered. Constraints in site sizes in urban areas mean that the full suite of external accommodation may not be provided in all cases. In such circumstances, priority is given to the provision of accommodation and services specific to the pedagogical requirements of the school. In many cases this will be in line with Local Authorities’ own development policies, e.g. encouraging sustainable transport methods thus reducing parking and set down requirements.