Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In St. Joseph's secondary school in Rush, I was able to hear first-hand about the pressures and the frustrations with the processes involved in acquiring sites. There are external factors outside of the Department's control. One matter we are committed to as a Department is that where there is extra demand, we try to provide solutions. We have to work towards the long-term and we will put those measures in place, but there are short-term needs now. We are focused on September 2020. We will continue the dialogue with the principals to ensure whatever short-term temporary provision we can bring in fits the needs. I understand some sites, such as St. Joseph's secondary school in Rush, will not have adequate space for additional accommodation, but we have to look at other ways of satisfying that demand. I emphasise again that a lot of the demand can be skewed in some instances. I am not using the example of this area, but in a different area in a different part of the country it was a school of choice and it was skewed because everybody wanted to go to this school. When it was pared back, it became clear that when the duplication of applications was taken away, there were still school places available. I know this is acutely sensitive in terms of the demographics, the increased population and further housing developments. I will keep this on the radar and no doubt the Deputies will keep me on my toes as well.

See this speech in context