Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am taking this Topical Issue debate on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, who is otherwise engaged.

I thank Deputy Lawless for raising this matter. As he pointed out, the population of Kildare, and north Kildare in particular, has been growing for a number of years. He has been a strong advocate for the provision of services for the increasing population, be those commuter services, schools or additional Garda stations. He is working on all of these because they are having to catch up with the growing population. I acknowledge his consistent work in this regard.

On the matter of post-primary school places in north Kildare from September 2023 onwards, the Deputy will be aware of most of the issues affecting his constituency of Kildare North from his close involvement with schools' boards of management. For school planning purposes, the Department of Education divides the country into 314 planning areas and uses a geographical information system to anticipate school place demand. Information from a range of sources, including child benefit data, school enrolment data and residential development activity, is used for this purpose. Additionally, Project Ireland 2040's population and housing targets inform the Department's projections of school place requirements.

Having considered the projected requirements in each school planning area, the Department makes an assessment of the existing capacity within that particular area and its ability to meet any increased demand. Where data indicate that additional provision is required at primary or post-primary level, the delivery of such additional provision is dependent on the particular circumstances of each case and may be provided through one or a combination of the following: utilising existing unused capacity; extending the capacity of schools; and the provision of new schools. The Department's projections of post-primary school place requirements in north Kildare show an anticipated continued growth in enrolments in the short to medium term.

It is important to note that, where enrolment pressures arise, it could be as a result of a variety of factors. Sometimes, it is down to population increases. It is important that local authorities are kept in touch with regarding housing developments that are likely to occur in the area. Where a school has a particular reputation, it can draw pupils from outside its area. Single-sex schools might not be suitable for some pupils. In other cases, parents went to a school and want to keep the connection. While I would not overemphasise it, some parents in areas with growing populations have their children's names down for a number of schools. While that would have to be verified, it can be an element, albeit a small one.

The Department is working to establish the true extent of capacity issues across school planning areas through its discussions with the relevant school patrons and authorities. This close engagement will allow the Department to identify at an early stage particular capacity requirements for the forthcoming years and how best to deal with those.

A number of projects are under way in north Kildare or were completed recently: Maynooth Post-Primary School and Maynooth Community College; Confey College; Coláiste Chiaráin in Leixlip; Naas Community College; Coláiste Naomh Mhuire in Naas; Salesian College in Celbridge; Celbridge Community School; St. Farnan's Post-Primary School; Scoil Mhuire in Prosperous; Scoil Dara in Kilcock; and Enfield Community College. I would be happy to give further information to the Deputy on these projects.

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