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

I thank the Minister of State for his response. Just to pick up on some of the points he made, he said the Department is aware of pressures for school places in school planning areas across north County Dublin. I should hope so, because I raise it often enough, as others do as well. He said the next step is to acquire clarity on the actual number of additional first year places required. With respect, this is our second last week before we rise at the end of 2023. It will be the middle of January when we come back. In his next response, the Minister of State might give me a timeframe for that. For many parents, once it gets into the new year they want to start planning, as the Minister of State knows himself, particularly if they are going to have to drive their kids to school in the morning if it is not going to be possible for them to get a place. Parents will be holding out hope that they will get the school place in their local area, but things like modular buildings and additional capacity put in at short notice cannot be done overnight, even with short notice. It he gets a chance in the follow-up, I ask the Minister of State to give me a timeframe for that, because I would like to be able to go back to the parents who are on the list and give them an update. I used Skerries as an example not for any reason other than it was the subject of the most recent conversation that I had. It is an issue right across my constituency. I ask the Minister of State to give me a timeframe for the 53 who are on the waiting list. The intake was 210 last year and it appears to have gone down to 180. That is already a bit of a worry. The Minister of State has referenced temporary solutions and has said a solution will be found. If that is going to happen, he might give me a timeframe for that. If he cannot do that now, he might give it to me in writing at a later date so that I can go back to the parents and tell them that while they do not know today, if they are part of that cohort of 53 they will know what that solution is going to be, and when they will know.

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