Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The plan is to try to make sure we are looking much further than a year ahead or even, as it is now, the year that we are in. If we only find out who the children are that need places in February or March, we are giving ourselves very little time to put those places in situ for September. That is why we are changing our timelines and why we are asking parents and schools to notify the NCSE in October this year, to allow us to plan for next year. Obviously, we want to ensure that we are designating the schools much earlier in order to be able to put the classrooms in place. Separate from that, when we are engaging with schools and considering how many classrooms a school might potentially need, it is preferable to plan much further ahead. In that way, instead of adding one classroom to a school in the knowledge that we might be back the following year to add another, through our capital forward planning we will be able to look at a particular school, acknowledge that the demand will most likely increase and plan accordingly. That is certainly part of our thought process and part of our work at the moment on the review of the NDP and on planning. We are bringing all of the work we do forward by a number of months which will give us greater sight of what we need to be doing and the resources that will be needed.