I wish to raise the issue of the Carrigtwohill Community College and the school campus in Carrigtwohill. To give the Dáil a bit of insight in respect of this, this was the largest single school project ever undertaken by the State. It involved the construction of three schools on the one campus, a large secondary school in addition to two primary schools that went in together. There are approximately 1,500 students there at this moment in the town of Carrigtwohill, which was at one point the fastest growing urban area in the country. It also has plans potentially to host up to 2,000 pupils on the school campus itself. We fought very hard in the last Dáil term, alongside the then Minister for education, Deputy Norma Foley. After a very difficult two-year battle, we finally secured funding to advance the project, which was a long-running, difficult challenge. There is excellent school management and a fantastic principal in situ. I am very lucky to have a good working relationship and to be able to assist as the local TD for the area. However, there is a problem. With that number of students in place, they do not have a proper playing area. I have asked about this for some time in parliamentary questions going back to November, trying to identify possible solutions so that the schools would have a suitable facility or play area for the students. To be fair, some analysis has been done. There are two sites adjacent to the school. Unfortunately one of them is an attenuation area to prevent flooding. Carrigtwohill is quite low lying and surface flooding is an issue there. With Storm Babet and so on, we have had serious flooding in the east Cork area in recent years. We need to see a workable solution being put forward. Through my parliamentary question to the Minister and the Department of education back in November, we identified a site of 1.09 acres sitting idle to the north of the site that is owned by the Department of education. There is an opportunity to solve the problem for these schools, the community in Carrigtwohill and the students from all over east Cork who attend the schools in the area and to put a solution in place. To their credit, the schools have been working very hard to get AstroTurf facilities. We have been able to assist in many cases in the constituency when it has come to getting grant aid. I really want to be in a position to provide assistance. The question I want to put to the Department through the Minister of State, Deputy Dillon, who is representing the Minister for education today, is: can we finally get an answer? Will the Department devolve this land to Cork ETB to enable it to provide what is needed for the community and the school? I am really proud of the work they are doing in Carrigtwohill. In a relatively small number of years they have established a fantastic school. The students, pupils teachers and staff of the school all deserve this. It is required. We need to provide the facilities children need in order to go outside, get fresh air and exercise. We must try to provide them with the very best opportunity they can have in life to grow and develop.

Sentiment score: 0.15

I thank the Minister for the response. I want to highlight the Department has agreed the area of circa 1.9 acres to the north of the campus in the Department's ownership can be used as a recreation area by the school on a licence basis. Following on from those comments, I would like to get an insight into how long that is going to take. I welcome it; I really do. I wish we did not have to wait so long to get a reply in respect of that query. I am glad to hear it is progressing. I appreciate that processes sometimes take significant time but the ultimate goal here is to provide the 1,500 pupils in the school complex with the green area they need. This also recognises the fact that Carrigtwohill remains one of the fastest growing areas in the country. Cork County Council is expecting 40% of the county's population growth to happen on the Carrigtwohill to Midleton corridor in the next decade. We heard that recently at the briefing by the chief executive of the county council. I welcome this response. All I would ask is that we would get insight into this as a matter of urgency. The schools are adamant that they would like to try to get an AstroTurf or all-weather facility onsite. There is obviously the need to ensure the Department of sport is happy to provide the grant aid required for these types of projects. We know complications arise when it comes to the conditions of ownership. The Department should not create any difficulty there if they come to a satisfactory arrangement with Cork ETB to allow this to proceed. Again, I want to express my gratitude. It is nice to see there is a way to resolve this.

Sentiment score: 0.40