A new school is to be built at Muckross Park College, one of south Dublin's best-known girls' secondary schools, which is run by the Dominican Sisters.
A letter sent by the Minister for Education and Science, Mr Martin, to local TDs earlier this week said in 1997 his Department had approved a 10-classroom, two-laboratory extension to the school. However, the school authorities had then proposed a whole new school on the site because of deficiencies in terms of fire safety and classroom size.
After a further inspection, the Department's building unit agreed "in principle" that a new school building would be the best way to solve the school's accommodation problems.
Detailed plans now have to be drawn up and the building project has to go out to tender. The architectural planning stage of such a project usually takes up to a year, and building work on the new school is unlikely to begin for another 12-18 months.
In the meantime, Mr Martin says the Department is aware of the poor condition of the school's prefabricated buildings, which currently house 180 girls, and will "urgently consider the question of grant aid towards the cost of any essential repairs when an estimate of the cost of the works is submitted by the school authorities".
The Fine Gael TD for the area, Ms Frances Fitzgerald, welcomed the news, but urged the Minister to upgrade "the existing buildings so that children are not taking classes in such appalling conditions which, at this stage, pose health and safety threats to all concerned".