Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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374. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the land on which a permanent building for a school (details supplied) will be built has been transferred from the current owner; when a planning application for the proposed permanent building will be submitted to Meath County Council; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3098/22]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Agreement in principle had been reached to acquire a site for the permanent location of the school in question. Contracts for sale have now been signed, conditional on the landowner providing required infrastructure upgrades to serve the site. My Department have been advised that these infrastructure upgrades are programmed to be completed by the end of July 2022.

The project to provide the permanent building for the school referred to by the Deputy is in early architectural planning which involves site surveys, school design stages and the preparation of statutory applications.

As with all school building projects, pre-planning meetings are required with the Local Authority in advance of preparing a Planning Application. This is to ensure the highest probability of a successful planning application in the shortest time possible. A considerable amount of work is required following the pre-planning meeting to prepare a suitably detailed application.

At the pre-planning meeting for the interim accommodation currently on the site, the Local Authority made it clear that the planning application for the permanent accommodation must be cognisant of the overall development plans by the landowner for their wider land holding. Discussions have been ongoing between my Department and the landowner in relation to the overall plan for the area. A planning application was recently submitted for the additional interim accommodation which the school will require for the 2022/23 academic year.

A decision by the Local Authority on the planning application for the further interim accommodation for 2022/23 must be secured before planning can be submitted for the school's permanent accommodation. However, work on preparing for the planning application for the permanent accommodation will be progressed in parallel with the Local Authority's processing of the interim application.