Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil leis an Teachta as an t-ábhar seo a ardú. It gives me the opportunity to set out for the House the position on post-primary school places in Greystones in September of next year. I assure the Deputy that the provision of school places to meet the needs of children and young people at primary and post-primary levels, including children and young people with special educational needs, is an absolute priority for the Department.

As the Deputy may be aware, for school planning purposes the Department of Education divides the country into 314 school planning areas and uses a GIS system to anticipate demand. Information from a range of sources, including child benefit and school enrolment data, and information on residential development activity is used for this purpose. Additionally, Project Ireland 2040 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 then assesses existing capacity within each area and its ability to meet any increased demand. Additional provision is made, as necessary, where existing capacity is insufficient for future needs.

The Department is aware that pressures at post-primary level in Greystones are in part due to the reduction by some schools of the number of first-year places being made available for 2024-25. A critical next step is to acquire clarity on the actual number of additional first-year places required for 2024 in order for an appropriate solution to be put in place. In that context, schools in several areas of enrolment pressure, including Greystones, have been requested to share data on applications for admissions. The Department is liaising closely with schools to ensure this data is provided as soon as possible, and once it is received the actual requirement for places can be established. The Deputy referred to this. The Department is already discussing potential solutions with the relevant school patrons and authorities, but understanding the actual school place needs will clarify the specific actions required. This close engagement with schools and patrons will also allow the Department to identify further capacity requirements for the forthcoming years and put any required solutions beyond those already in train to ensure sufficient school places.

In line with the Department's demographic projections of post-primary school place requirements, there has been continued growth in enrolments in Greystones. In response to the projections of school place needs in Greystones, the Department is providing significant additional post-primary capacity, including a new 1,000-pupil school building for Greystones Community College. Greystones Community College was established in 2020 as a regional solution for the Kilcoole and Greystones area. The project to deliver this new school building is at stage 3, tender stage.

In addition to delivering that project, the Department has recently delivered a major building project to expand St. David's secondary school and is also progressing a building project for Temple Carrig School. St. David's is a coeducational school, and a major building project to deliver state-of-the art, modern school accommodation for 750 pupils was provided.

Temple Carrig secondary school is a coeducational school and it was established in 2014. There is a project under way to provide accommodation at this school for 1,000 pupils, which is currently at stage 1. A project for four modular classrooms has also been approved. These classrooms are now on site and the project is nearing completion.

In addition, there is the existing school in the adjacent Kilcoole school planning area, Coláiste Chraobh Abhann, for which a major project is approved to expand it to 1,000 pupils. This project is currently at stage 2B and is being delivered by the NDFA.

I assure Deputy Whitmore that Department officials will continue to engage actively with schools and patrons to ensure appropriate provision for all students in Greystones for the 2024-25 school year and into the future. Families can be assured that any necessary solution will be delivered so all the children in the Greystones area will receive a first-year place. That is a guarantee.

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