Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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Today is D-Day for many children who apply to the Limerick common application system. There are 17 schools within that system. I taught sixth class for many years and this was a day of much excitement but also lots of anxiety. It is a worrying time for youngsters because in most Irish towns, a child can go to a primary school and their local secondary school. This is not the case in Limerick and the surrounding communities in Clare and County Limerick as well.

I have been getting texts this evening from parents, some of whom have had great news and some who have not had such great news. Everyone gets an offer, but sometimes people can be offered a school way out in Pallaskenry, County Limerick, and if you are from County Clare, that is a long distance. Sometimes they hit the jackpot and they get the local school they desire.

So many people in Clare are going to Limerick schools. I went to one myself, namely, Ardscoil Rís. There is no catchment school in south-east Clare, where there is a population of approximately 15,000 people. When you come up from south Clare and get into the Sixmilebridge, Newmarket on Fergus and Shannon catchment, there are two secondary schools, namely, St. Patrick’s Comprehensive, Shannon, and St. Caimin’s Community School. These are both incredible schools, but enrolment limits are put on them by the Department of Education. There are so many students trying to enrol in schools, and yet there are limitations on them getting in.

I do not expect an answer from the Minister tonight, but her officials might look at it. The town of Sixmilebridge sits somewhere between that belt of County Clare near the Limerick border. It is south of the Shannon area. It is the obvious place, with its huge population growth, for a new secondary school. The analytics of that need to be looked at. I just totted up the local primary schools, which have a combined enrolment of 2,183. Surely, we should be looking at an additional school in that pocket around Sixmilebridge. I would love to see an analysis of that.