Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Cheann Comhairle agus leis an Teachta freisin as an ábhar seo a ardú. I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Education and it gives the Department of Education a chance to set out to the House the position with regard to post-primary school places in east Cork for September 2023 and onwards.

As the Deputy knows, the Department of Education divides the country into 314 school planning areas and uses a geographical information system to anticipate school place demand. It identifies a range of information sources, including child benefit, school enrolment data and information on residential development activity. Having considered the projected requirements in each of these school planning areas, the Department then makes an assessment of the existing capacity within this particular area and its ability to meet any increased demand.

Where our 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 a combination of means such as utilising existing unused capacity within a school or schools, extending the capacity of schools or the provision of new schools.

In the case of east Cork, the Department's projections show an anticipated continued growth in enrolments in the short to medium term. While the Department is aware of increasing pressures and demand for additional school places, as the Deputy has noted, enrolment pressures may not be fully due to a lack of accommodation but may also be driven by other factors, including the duplication of applications; schools of choice; some towns or areas having single-sex schools in which places are available but which are not available to all pupils; and pupils coming from outside the local area.

The Minister is aware of pressures at post-primary level in east Cork, and in particular the Midleton and Carrigtwohill school planning area referred to by the Deputy. She is working to establish the true extent of capacity issues across the school planning area through ongoing discussions with the relevant school patrons and authorities. Engagement began in October 2022 with a view to getting a clear picture of the number of unique additional places required. The Department is reliant on getting clear data from the schools in a prompt manner and is continuing to engage with the schools and patrons. Officials from the Department will be addressing the issue with each of the patrons this week with a view to finding a workable solution to ensure no student is without a place for September 2023. This close engagement is allowing the Department to identify particular capacity requirements for the forthcoming years and whether any further actions are required in addition to those already in train, including the provision of modular accommodation solutions.

In light of the continuing growth in enrolments, as the Deputy may be aware, the Department is already progressing a number of building projects in east Cork under the national development plan, which includes projects at post-primary schools. These include a project at Carrigtwohill Community College to deliver a new, modern 1,000-pupil permanent school building and this project is currently on-site. There will also be an extension at St. Colman's Community College, Midleton, which has been recently completed to cater for up to 1,000 pupils. A number of large school building projects are also in train to cater for similar numbers of pupils. These include expanded capacity at Midleton CBS. Secondary School and St. Mary's High School, Midleton. In addition, St. Aloysius’ College, Carrigtwohill will expand to cater for 1,000 pupils, Pobalscoil na Tríonóide, Youghal, will expand to cater for 1,200 pupils, and Coláiste Mhuire and Carrignafoy Community College, both in Cobh, will expand to cater for 600 and over 700 pupils, respectively.

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