Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I can hear the Deputy's frustration loud and clear about the fact this issue has gone on for a long time. It has been raised by him, by Deputy McAuliffe and by others in this Chamber on multiple occasions.

I am here to take this matter on behalf of the Minister for Education. Quite a lengthy response has been provided, but I will skip to the bit that is going to be of most interest to the Deputy. He spoke about confusion over the site. What I have today is confirmation that an agreement is in place with Dublin City Council regarding a proposed land swap. This will facilitate any future development relating to the school based on the outcome of the national energy and conditions survey, evolving demographic requirement and allocated capital funds. As the Deputy may be aware, the Department is examining demographic requirements across the country including in the context of current and planned residential development activity. Any major capital works for Gaelscoil Cholmcille will be considered in the context of the review of demographics for the Beaumont-Coolock Dublin 5 school planning area.

As the Deputy will be well aware, Gaelscoil Cholmcille is a primary school in Coolock under the patronage of An Foras Pátrúnachta. The school had an enrolment in September 2024 of 221 pupils. The school has a current staffing allocation of a principal, ten mainstream class teachers, two special education teacher posts and one shared SET post. The school is located in the Beaumont-Coolock Dublin 5 school planning area. There are currently ten primary schools in this school planning area, with Gaelscoil Cholmcille being the only school providing all-Irish-medium education.

All applications from schools for major capital works must be considered in the context of capacity requirements and climate action commitments. The priority of the Department continues to be the provision of required additional school places to meet demographic requirements as well as for children with special educational needs. The Department is required to manage the allocated capital funding across all schools in the country. The Department’s approach is to maximise the usage of existing capacity in schools and, in tandem with this, to manage the progression of the existing pipeline of projects within available budgets and in line with the Government’s infrastructure guidelines. The Department can identify opportunities to transform existing schools as part of energy retrofit projects, and the Department’s pathfinder programme has been developing effective solutions in this regard, as we plan for a future wider roll out.

The plan for working this through at national scale will be informed by the outcome of an energy and condition survey of all schools which is currently under way and is due for completion by the middle of next year. The subsequent analysis of this significant amount of data will take some time but it will help determine priorities going forward in respect of retrofitting and refurbishment projects. The overall process is particularly valuable in facilitating a proportionate assessment of a school's accommodation upgrade needs relative to all other schools, and allowing effective prioritisation of capital investment. Prioritising allows the Department to keep a strong focus on the provision of additional capacity to cater for demographics, new housing developments and the roll-out of additional special classes for children with additional needs. This approach reflects the Department's fundamental objective of ensuring the availability of a school place for every child.

The pace of delivery of additional residential developments in school planning areas like the Deputy's, along with the updated enrolment and demographic data, needs to be kept under review and to inform strategies. As stated, we have confirmation now that an agreement is in place with Dublin City Council regarding a proposed land swap for this school. I hope that is welcome news to the Deputy, to Deputy McAuliffe, to the parents and to the school community.

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