Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to raise this issue. I understand the Minister for Education is out of the country and I hope the Minister of State, who is present on behalf of the Government, will take back the message I am giving here this morning regarding the important matter of Coláiste Dhún Másc in Portlaoise, which was opened in 2017 to cater for the growing population of the town and the general area. The school has had to limit enrolment. The Minister of State is probably aware that Portlaoise is the fastest growing town in the country outside of Dublin.

I raise the matter in the context of a chronic shortage of second-level places. It is not just in Portlaoise but in County Laois in general that there is a significant issue with capacity. The school got approval for a 1,000-pupil new building four years ago. It has 570 very enthusiastic pupils at the moment and excellent staff but the school is very limited. It operates on three different campuses: the old vocational school in Railway Street, the old CBS in Tower Hill and the old primary school in Church Avenue. The Minister of State can imagine they are doing their best with that. It is not that pupils attend one of those units in the morning for the entire day; they have to move regularly. In fact, a pedestrian crossing had to be put in for them, as well as special traffic-calming measures, to allow them to be able to move freely between the different schools. It is logistically difficult but it works with the co-operation of the parents, the school board, staff and pupils. The Minister of State can see the difficulty. The school has 570 pupils. I know from the local education and training board and from the school authorities that it could take hundreds of more pupils – hundreds of parents are willing to send their children there – but they cannot get into the school.

I will give the Minister of State a flavour of what is happening. Enrolment opened in some of the second-level schools in October. The Minister of State is probably aware of this from his constituency. Parents come to us in August and say they have just applied but they cannot get their child into a school in the area. Of two parents who applied to another second-level school in the area on the first day enrolment opened in early October, one is now in 92nd place and the other is in 94th place on the waiting list. They have little chance of getting in. They will send their children to any secondary school, not just in Portlaoise but in the general area, but the problem is they cannot get in. We have a problem with capacity. The census figures and all of the indicators such as planning permission, the baptism rate, birth rates and demographics for Portlaoise are moving in the direction of an increased population.

Coláiste Dhún Másc has two streams, Gaeilge agus Béarla. That has worked out very well. It started off very small in the beginning but it has literally mushroomed, and both sides of the school are thriving. We must get to a situation where they are on the one campus. The good news is that a site has been secured in Summerhill. It is more good news that funding has been approved. If it had not, I would be here arguing with the Minister of State about that. Stage 2A has been submitted to the Department. Stage 2B has also gone to the Department. That is what we need as it would give the green light to go to planning permission, which is what is needed at the moment.

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