School Accommodation
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-17
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Paul Nicholas Gogarty (IND), Dublin Mid-West

As I said, I know the area very well. The consultants for the school pointed out that the entire site is within the riparian corridor. What the Department of education is proposing and what the school proposed are both within that. That, therefore, cannot be used as a viable excuse for not looking at an alternate site. The school is worried that the three ASD classes will be disjointed if two are at the front of the school and one is at the rear. Basically, in the context of value for money, money is being thrown down the drain for works that will be required down the line, possibly at greater cost, if this is not looked at now.
There are two separate things to look at in this regard. First, it is common sense to have the three buildings conjoined and the works carried out in a cost-effective way. Notwithstanding that, it is equally important that green space should not be built on. The response that there will still be green space does not take away from the fact that the pitch will be gone for those junior kids. There is not enough green space left for a junior-size GAA, rugby or soccer match if that is eaten into.
A lot of schools in the Lucan area do not even have a pitch, but taking this space away to make it like every other school is not the way to treat a school community. That is a huge resource and, with a little bit of joined-up thinking, we could still get the modular buildings in. I ask the Minister of State to reconsider this from a cost-effectiveness point of view and build these three units together holistically. Separately, the Department should go back to the drawing board and have further discussions because some of the arguments being used do not wash when they are added up. Ultimately, we are looking out for the best interests of the children, both those going into the ASD classes and the 500-plus students who use the existing amenity.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-17/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:38+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-17