Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to clarify once again that the Department is liaising with the Kerry Education Service and the authorities in the Gaelcholáiste regarding the clarification that needs to be provided about the site. This relates to issues concerning current site restrictions and who will fund the provision of road access to the site. I refer to the case being made by the Deputy about the growth in demand for school places in Tralee. The school building unit of the Department of Education and Skills in Tullamore is using very scientific data to establish where there is demand, now and in the future. The Department uses two distinct sources of data, the census data from the CSO and data for children's allowance from the Department of Social Protection. The combination of these two data sources allows us to paint a very accurate picture of the future demand for school places. For the foreseeable future, there will not be significant increased demand in Tralee. There is no school provision in other locations throughout the country in which there is an urgent need to create places. For the next few years the major element of the Department's funding will be directed at these locations.

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