O’Brien demands commitment on temporary accommodation for new Fingal Educate Together Secondary School

           A site has been identified for new Educate Together but must be opened                                                      this September in temporary premises 
Local Fianna Fáil TD, Darragh O’Brien has said that while it must be welcomed that a site has now been found to develop a new post-primary Educate Together school in Malahide/Portmarnock, the school must be opened in temporary accommodation by September to alleviate the pressure on pupil enrolments in secondary schools across Fingal.
In information received by the Deputy through a tabled Parliamentary Question, the Minister for Education, Richard Bruton has confirmed that a suitable site has been identified to progress with the proposed school development in Malahide/Portmarnock.
The Deputy said, “There is already an acute shortage of secondary school places in Kinsealy, Malahide & Portmarnock. Parents have been left in an unacceptable position that their children cannot get secondary school places in the area where they live.
“We can only expect that the current chronic shortage of places in our schools will rise in the coming years if this Government does not act now.
"The provision of a new post-primary school in the Malahide/Portmarnock area was first promised over two years ago and was originally scheduled to last September. It is welcome that a suitable permanent site has finally been identified and while the location has not been made known yet, I will be providing an update as soon as the information is disclosed.
"It’s my understanding that this school will open this coming September in temporary accommodation. I have asked the Minister to give a formal commitment that this is the case and I will keep constituents informed of any progress in this regard.

“A lot of local people have long campaigned for the development of this school and they have my full support, I will continue to place pressure on the Minister to ensure that there are no unacceptable delays in opening the school in temporary accommodation,” concluded Deputy O’Brien.