Martin Ferris (Kerry, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise an issue that has been ongoing for some time in Milltown, County Kerry. I refer to the Presentation secondary school facilities, the Nagle Rice primary school and the lack of places within the former for young children coming out of the latter. They are unable to get places in the secondary school because there are none. All of this goes back to the huge population growth in Milltown and the expansion of the town. Milltown had a population of 401 in 2006, 838 in 2011 and 928 in 2018. There has also been an increase in the number of houses. Some 50% of the houses in the town were built in the period between 2002 and 2011.

The admission criteria being applied mean that those who get into secondary school from the catchment area of Milltown need to have historical ties to it, as well as having an older sibling in the secondary school. The consequences of that are that those coming out of the Nagle Rice primary school who do not have that attachment or who do not have an older sibling in the school have to go elsewhere and attend a secondary school outside Milltown.

Population growth throughout the 18 catchment areas is predicted to be substantial. The population includes many young couples who in many cases come from ethnically diverse backgrounds, primarily Lithuania and Poland. They have the added pressure of trying to find a secondary school in the much wider catchment area, which means that they might have to travel to Killorglin, Fieries or elsewhere in the area to find a secondary school. There is no bus service for those children to bring them to school, which adds cost. It is absurd that a child who studies in Milltown primary school and resides in the area cannot access secondary education in the town where they were born and live. It is a terrible cost and having to pay for a bus service to transport a child to another secondary school, due to the criteria, puts a great deal of pressure on the families. Many of the people come from low-income families, yet they must provide the service.

The solution is to expand the Presentation secondary school by providing additional rooms to allow it to accommodate children from the area. While we wait for that to happen, in the short term the Department has an obligation to provide some form of bus funding for children who must travel outside the area. There is also an urgent need for dialogue with the community. The current issue is creating division, in that children who were born, reared and are starting school in Milltown are unable to secure a place in their local secondary school, while children born far outside the district are given places because of historical connections.

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