Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister, but I already had that information from the answer to my previous question. I stated I was moving on from it. There are five national schools under the Educate Together banner in Galway and the children concerned have no secondary school to go to. As I understand it, only one school has experienced a decrease in numbers. All of the others have a waiting list. In Baile Chláir children cannot get into the new secondary school. An independent analysis by NUI Galway shows that a new school is necessary. I repeat that the Minister's school building programme shows that it may be necessary in 2018 as there are already 1,480 children on a list of expressions of interest. The programme for Government commits to the provision of new schools and giving choices to parents and children with regard to schools of a particular ethos or none. There are Educate Together schools in Knocknacarra, Newcastle, Claregalway and Kilcolgan which is in Kilcornan, but there is no secondary school for their pupils to go to. There are schools with waiting lists and the Minister is telling me the Department's demographic studies show that a school is not necessary. Something is amiss somewhere in the analysis.

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