COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF TALLAGHT AREA COMMITTEE (2)
Monday, May 27, 2013
QUESTION NO. 11
QUESTION: Councillor D. Looney
"To ask the Manager for a report on all schools in the area under the remit of this Committee sanctioned for building or extension works by the Dept of Education and Skills since the beginning of 2012, including the level and patronage of each school, the status of such projects, and the role of the Council in each project with regard to land disposal, leases, etc?"
REPLY:
In Autumn 2011 The Department of Education and Skills and the City and County Managers Association established a partnership with the aim of realising the provision of additional school accommodation urgently required to meet the forecasted demand for 45,000 primary school pupils and almost 25,000 post primary school places by 2017/2018 in areas that are experiencing a rapid increase in school going pupils. South Dublin County Council's role in this inter-agency programme is to identify and acquire sites on behalf of the Department of Education and Skills and this role formally came into effect on June 1st 2012 under a Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of Education and Skills and the City and County Managers' Association for the Acquisition of Sites for School Planning. The advantage to the Department of Education of involving the local authority in this process is that the local authority's expertise in the areas of planning, drainage and traffic management for example, together with local knowledge of site availability should ensure that urgently required schools will be delivered in the most expedient manner.
Under the terms of the MoU, the Council acts when a requirement for a site is identified by the Department in a particular area. The DES introduced a Geographical Information System (GIS) in the Planning & Building Unit in 2008 and this GIS technology is being used by the Department to assist in planning school requirements in the future by identifying the locations across the country where there will be significant changes of demographics in the coming years and to help plan for the need for additional school places in these areas. At least six sites for new schools are required in the South Dublin County Council area and this includes sites at Citywest, Firhouse and Tallaght in relation to the Tallaght Area Committee.
Following joint inspections by SDCC and the DoE&S of a range of shortlisted sites in May 2012, SDCC enlisted Dublin City Council's Valuers to obtain valuations for the preferred sites, which are both in private and public ownership. Negotiations are on going to acquire these sites on behalf of the Department of Education and Skills to facilitate the delivery of permanent primary schools at these locations.
In the meantime the DoE&S advised SDCC that there was a requirement for 1no. primary school to be open in Lucan by September 2013 and 2no. temporary primary schools to open in Firhouse by September 2013. In the spirit of the MoU and inter-agency co-operation, SDCC has sought to assist the DoE&S to achieve this requirement by leasing a SDCC owned site to facilitate the accommodation of a temporary school in the Lucan area. A similar arrangement is being considered in the Firhouse area, subject to approval of a Part 8 proposal to accommodate 2no. 4 classroom temporary primary schools on SDCC owned land located to the east of Firhouse Community Centre, which will be put on public display next week.
The MoU under which SDCC is operating is for the identification and acquisition of sites for new schools on behalf of the Department of Education and Skills. This does not include the construction of new schools, determining or informing the patronage of new schools, nor does it include extending existing schools. Further information in relation to these issues is available from the Department of Education and Skill's website:
http://www.education.ie/en/Schools-Colleges/Services/Building-Works/Major-Projects/5-Year-Plan.html
and
http://www.education.ie/en/Press-Events/Press-Releases/2013-Press-Releases/PR13-05-10B.html