John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise the issue of the requirement of a second level school for the greater area of Saggart and Citywest. The most recent census showed that the Saggart area has one of the fastest growing populations in the country, and a quick drive through Citywest will clearly indicate that major residential construction is under way. The area is currently served by four primary schools. To be specific, one might say that one of the schools is in Saggart and three are in Citywest. Anybody who knows the area there will know that it is one geographic area, but the problem is that there is no second level school dedicated to that area. While it may not be a problem today, it is an impending problem. The national schools operating today do not all have children who have reached sixth class. In other words, some of the national schools' oldest students are in third or fourth class and the number of children projected to leave those schools over the coming years are as follows. In 2019, some 96 children will be looking for a second level school; in 2020, that number will increase to 120; in 2021, it will climb to 164, and in 2022 to 188. I am not suggesting for one moment that all 188 children will want to go to one school, but that indicates the growing population in that geographic area.

More than 600 houses are under construction in Citywest. Planning permission has been granted for an equal number, and hundreds more are in the planning process. Anybody who takes time to look at this issue will see the actual demand. My concern is that when I raised this issue a number of weeks ago by means of a parliamentary question, the response was less than satisfactory. It said that the new 1,000 pupil post-primary school referred to by the Deputy in the Kingswood area of Tallaght opened in September 2016 to serve the needs of the students in the school planning area, which includes the Citywest area. Unfortunately, that will not be sufficient. There will not be capacity there, and it is not close enough to Citywest to be a viable school. Every community deserves a second level school where there are sufficient feeder schools to support it. This needs to be dealt with now, or in a couple of years we will have students looking for a second level place where there is no school available.

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