Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I know this is an issue of concern to the Deputy and I am keen to respond as best I can. In identifying the requirement for new school provision and for additional school places, my Department uses a geographical information system to identify the areas under increased demographic pressure nationwide. The system uses data from the Central Statistics Office, Ordnance Survey Ireland, the Department of Social Protection and information from my Department's databases. With this information, my Department carries out nationwide demographic analyses and so on and we have 13 new schools.

On the school planning areas in County Meath, my Department's demographic analyses show that these areas are experiencing some demographic growth. However, the level of growth and the rate of year-on-year increase are not to such an extent that would currently warrant the provision of additional new schools. My Department is keeping these school planning areas under review to take account of updated child benefit data, updated enrolment data and the impact of capacity increases in these and adjacent school planning areas.

The Deputy will be aware two new primary schools opened in 2011 and 2012 and two new post-primary schools opened in 2013 and 2014 in County Meath. A number of building projects for County Meath are included in my Department's six-year plan, announced in November 2015. In Ashbourne, my Department has recently completed new 16 classroom schools for Gaelscoil na Mí and Ashbourne Educate Together national school and also phase 1 of the project for De Lacy College, which provides for 450 places, with the remainder of the planned 1,000 pupil school to be included in phase 2 which is currently in early architectural planning. The current status of all projects, including those in Meath, may be viewed on my Department's website.

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