Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein)
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23. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when a decision will be made regarding the patronage of the proposed new secondary school in Portlaoise. [28358/16]

Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein)
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This question relates to a proposed new secondary school in Portlaoise. The three schools in the town, which are relatively new, are overcrowded but the town continues to grow. The population of County Laois continues to grow. There has been a major influx of people into the area, as confirmed in the recent census of population. The issue here is the patronage of the school. There has been a consultation process on it locally and the school is due to open in September 2017.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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In April 2016, applications were invited for the patronage of nine new post-primary schools to be established in 2017 and 2018, including the new post-primary school to serve the Portlaoise area. The closing date for receipt of applications for this process was 8 June 2016.  Patrons submitted with their application a parental preference template in which parents were requested to declare their preference for their child to be educated through that patron's school model and also their preference with regard to education through the medium of English or Irish.

Applications received are currently being assessed by my Department.  The assessment process is detailed and rigorous and numerous applications have been received in respect of each of the nine proposed new post-primary schools.

The final assessment reports will be forwarded for the consideration of the new schools establishment group. It is an external independent advisory group set up to oversee the process.  Following the group's consideration, it will submit a report with recommendations to me for consideration and final decision.  I will then announce who is the successful patron of each school. I expect to receive this report in the coming weeks. The assessment reports and the recommendations of the new schools establishment group will be available on my Department's website following the announcement.

Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister for his reply. The concern about this proposed new school is that time is slipping by. I understand the school is due to open in September 2017. As I outlined, there are huge pressures in the area, which I am not exaggerating. A number of parents contacted me during the summer as they were not able to get their children into any secondary school in Portlaoise. Haywood school, the school in Portarlington and all of the schools in the county have substantial school populations as well and there is a long distance between Portlaoise and those schools. There is a major capacity issue. The baptism figures shows that the school population will increase. There is still a baby boom in County Laois for some reason. There is a huge population in the area. There has been a substantial consultation process locally, in which I have been involved, and there has been a good deal of lobbying. We have very good Catholic schools on the Borris Road, we also have an education and training board, on which my colleague seated next to me served, the Laois and Offaly Education and Training Board, and Portlaoise College. There is competition for this. I would like to hear the Minister's thoughts on this matter.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I understand there are nine schools for which a decision is required as to who the patron will be. The Minister will appreciate, with respect to a new school for the Castleknock-Carpenterstown area, that this process have been under way for months. We understood that we would know the outcome of the patronage identification recommendation process by now, yet in his response to Deputy Stanley, the Minister did not appear to give any precise timeline as to when the parents, the school bodies and the potential school boards would know. As the Minister is aware, in many areas competition for secondary places is extremely intense and parents have to be able to make a decision quite early on what school will be available for their child. When does the Minister intend to make a decision on who will be the patrons of these different schools? I understand, and he might confirm this, there are nine of them in total.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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As I indicated to Deputy Stanley, there are nine. There is an external independent advisory group which oversees the process. The information I have is that it is expected to report to me within the coming weeks. I want to reassure Deputy Stanley that the school will open as scheduled in September 2017 in suitable interim accommodation, pending the completion of construction of the permanent school building. The school is also included in the six-year investment programme. It is clearly a school that has been acknowledged.

The selection of a patron is a process that must be fair and objectively carried out. As I stated in the reply, those engaged in that process listen to the views of parents of prospective children, consider the diversity of offer to make sure that there is the range of choice, and take account of the parents' preferences. The process is designed to be as fair as possible and to offer choice to reflect the parents' views.

Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein)
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The fact that the process is with an external advisory group is giving rise to concern that there is a cut-off point. The Minister said he expects the group will report to him within a matter of weeks and I hope that is the case and that this can be expedited quickly after that. A joint bid has been submitted by the Laois and Offaly Education and Training Board and the Ciste Bunnaite, which represents the parents of the various Gaelscoileanna in the county. They have submitted a serious bid. The education and training board is in possession of former education premises in the town. The Minister mentioned in his reply that this will not move onto a greenfield site but into existing accommodation, if I heard him correctly. There is accommodation and there are opportunities to do that. As soon as all the information is with his Department, this needs to be processed as quickly as possible. The Minister might indicate the timeline for that. He might also comment on the criteria involved.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The criteria were published and are set out on the call for offers. Each school seeks to demonstrate that it meets the requirements of the Department to run a school including very basic things about the way they abide by various approaches that are expected of a school. There is then the process of selecting the patron who best meets the need to promote diversity and meet the parents' needs. The system is fair and transparent. There will be someone disappointed at the end of this selection process but it is conducted in a fair way. I cannot get anymore granular than to say it will be in the coming weeks but I will convey to my officials that there is a lot of local concern about the potential delays. I have received an assurance that the 17 September start date is still absolutely on target.