Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I raise an issue I have discussed at least once if not twice a year in the nearly eight years since I was elected to the Dáil. I represent a very young constituency, as does the Minister of State, with a fast-growing and expanding population. Every single year, we have a situation whereby parents are left scrambling for school places. I am sure the Minister of State is well aware of the Skerries community response to the education shortage in town, CREST, group, which was established four years ago to lobby for much-needed additional school places in Skerries. Our town is expanding. Apparently, the Minister of State and his ministerial colleagues were delighted when an extension was announced for one of the schools in the area, as I saw on social media. People were very pleased this announcement had been made. Unfortunately, it was only announced. Four years on, we have a situation whereby there will be 180 children in the next intake, following the intake of 210 last year. That will leave 53 children on the waiting list. It is not the case that it can be balanced out because Skerries is its own unit.

The same issues are arising in a number of schools in the area. I will list the schools in respect of which the issue has been raised with me in the past couple of weeks. It is not by any means an exhaustive list. It includes Skerries Community College, Ardgillan Community College, Malahide Community School, St. Oliver Plunkett National School and the special needs unit extension at Skerries Educate Together National School. I have had the explanation given to me that parents put their children's name down for several schools and this can cause a backlog. That is most definitely not happening in Skerries. I know many of the parents on the waiting list and they have not put their children's names down for multiple schools. They want their children to go to school in the town where they live. That should not be too much to ask. As sure as night follows day, every child will need schooling at the age of five. At the end of that child's primary schooling, he or she will need a secondary school place. It is one of the most predictable things that happens.

There has been a consistent failure to plan for school places. That failure is most acutely felt in north County Dublin because of its young and expanding population. I spoke to some of the parents in Skerries today who are very disheartened and upset because they have been promised an expanded school but they do not see any plan for the 53 children who are stuck on the waiting list. The parents are absolutely frantic, as are the children themselves. We all know about the difficulties being experienced. I am sure the Minister of State is well aware of them. There just does not seem to be a plan to address them. When I look back on the Dáil record, it shows that I have raised this issue repeatedly. It is not one that sorts itself out. There are still plenty of children who are not going to the school closest to them and must instead travel a fair distance to another school. The Minister of State and I both know that, for many, that does not involve getting on a bus or train. For a lot of children, it involves getting into a car in the morning. Apart from the environmental impact of that, which is a factor, it also means parents are made late for work and in starting their day because they cannot let their children go to school on their own. This is having a massive impact on families. I would be grateful if the Minister of State were to have some words of comfort for me on behalf of the Minister for Education.

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