COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF LUCAN AREA COMMITTEE

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

QUESTION NO. 1

QUESTION: Councillor C. Jones

"To ask the Manager to report to this Committee on intentions, if any, to find a location for a permanent school site that does'nt negatively encroach on existing schools catchment areas in order to facilitate the Community National School currently in temporary accommodation?"

REPLY:

In autumn 2011 The Department of Education and Skills (DES) and the City and County Managers Association (CCMA) established a partnership with the aim of realising the provision of urgently required additional primary school accommodation, including at Lucan. 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 uses demographic projections derived from census data, the pattern of school enrolments and data from the Department of Social and Community Affairs to identify a requirement for a new school.

The Council has no role in relation to school establishment, patronage or existing / proposed school catchment areas. SDCC has identified sites for a permanent school in Lucan based on the following criteria:

· being located where there is a demand for school places;

· meeting the technical requirements of the DES;

· being consistent with the proper planning and sustainable development objectives for the area; and

· meeting the technical requirements of the Council, including traffic / water and drainage / etc.

Following consultation with the DES in May / June 2012 a refined shortlist of possible sites in Lucan was drawn up. Site valuations were finalised by DCC Valuers in July / August 2012 and the DES requested the SDCC progress acquisition of the preferred site for a permanent school in Lucan in October 2012. SDCC is pursuing the acquisition of this site and in negotiations with the landowner are ongoing. The permanent school in Lucan is identified in the Department of Education and Skills 5 Year Programme, launched in March 2012, to be open in 2016. However, the DES required that a new primary school be open by September 2013 in Lucan and therefore, following consultation with the DES, SDCC identified a site at Tor an Ri to accommodate a school (Scoil Oscar Community National School) at a temporary location in Lucan, until the negotiations to acquire the permanent school site are finalised, thereby ensuring that a school building was be in place by September 2013.