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

The difficulty with waiting list data is that waiting lists are maintained by individual schools and the same child may appear on several waiting lists. Therefore, they are not the only indicator of the relationship between supply and demand. The position my Department has outlined to me is that there are 13 primary schools in the Swords area. They obviously have a junior infant intake. I do not know what it is but presumably it is in or around the 500 mark across those 13 schools. The Department's assessment indicates that capacity will be enough to meet the total junior infant enrolment need in the Swords area this year. However, they are assessing the demographic pressures and they recognise that there are growing pressures on the system. They are assessing the need in the Swords area. In terms of the Department's assessment of the position, there are enough junior infant class places to meet the need at present. I will bring the points the Deputy made to the attention of the Department and get it to double-check the enrolment figures because this assessment is now under way.

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