David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister for Education and Skills for taking this matter and his support of and interest in the school in question, Our Lady of Mercy national school, Stradbally, County Waterford. I also have received correspondence from the Minister and the Department in response to a parliamentary question on this matter.

I am making a case for a third classroom at the school in question. Previously, the school had boys from junior infants to first class. Since a change of status in 2013, the school now has boys and girls from junior infants to sixth class. Accordingly, it finds itself in urgent need of additional accommodation and classrooms. To ensure it will be prepared and ready to offer its pupils a safe and healthy environment, it has been looking at future projected enrolments.

In June 2014 the school was granted a new classroom, as the existing classroom for the second teacher did not meet the Department's size requirements. The school also had communal toilets. From a child protection point of view, the board of management was not happy with junior infants pupils using toilet facilities with sixth class pupils. In its previous application to the Department the school flagged that it needed two new classrooms. Its enrolment numbers for 2017 and 2018 will be 68 and 77 pupils, respectively. An application for a developing post will be provided for the Department as soon as a staffing schedule for next year is published.

The school is in the middle of building the second classroom and its principal acknowledges the support the school has received from the Department in that regard. The board of management will also convert the two existing smaller classrooms into a learning support room which will also act as a library and a resource room. Next year, accordingly, the school will need a new classroom for its third teacher.

The school has examined the records and baptismal certificates in the parish of Stradbally. Taking into account school leavers, the expected total number of pupils attending will be 68 in 2017, 77 in 2018, 84 in 2019 and 99 in 2020. This will involve a 100% increase in the current number of pupils by the end of 2020. The school is requesting funding from the Department for the purpose of building the additional classroom to ensure it will be in a position to manage the increase in the number of pupils adequately. There are also two preschools in the area, as well as an after-school club. The school expects enrolments to grow steadily in the next five to ten years.

The school is appealing to the Minister to work with it as it plans for the future. It genuinely acknowledges the support it has received up to now from the Department. It is looking at current and future needs and trying to plan for the future. In so doing it is asking for the Department's support. Will the Minister outline if he will be able to work with the school and what can be done to accommodate its future needs because of the additional projected enrolments?

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. Generally, the main point about demographic pressure is that we are catering for 20,000 extra places every year which puts much pressure on the system. There are ways of deciding where extra places are needed which look at planning issues. It needs to look at schools in a whole neighbourhood, not just individual schools.

In 2015 the Department approved devolved funding for Our Lady of Mercy national school, Stradbally, County Waterford, to construct a mainstream classroom. Responsibility for delivery of the project was devolved to the board of management and the board accepted the conditions associated with the grant in February 2016. I understand the project has since been put out to tender.

I am aware that the school has operated as a two-teacher school for several years. It anticipated that enrolment numbers would grow to a level that would warrant the appointment of a third teacher. The Department approved the provision of an additional classroom on this basis. However, enrolment numbers did not materialise as anticipated and the third teacher was, therefore, not appointed.

The school, however, expects enrolments to grow in the future and is advancing with the provision of the classroom approved in 2015. It has since submitted, on Wednesday, 2 November 2016, another application to the Department for additional accommodation. The application will be considered and a response conveyed directly to the school authority as soon as the assessment process has been finalised. I note the numbers and will convey them to the building unit. I am sure they are included with the application. In 2012 the enrolment was 38. It was the same in 2013. It increased to 49 in 2014 and has pretty much remained at that level in recent years. It was 50 last year, or up by just one. It has been relatively stable, but, as the Deputy said, it is anticipated that it will grow.

The building unit will be in touch with the school on the back of its most recent application which, as the Deputy said, is to covert two existing mainstream classrooms into a learning support room and a library. That application may have an impact on the school's existing classroom accommodation. It is a very recent application, having been made only a couple of days ago. We will, in consultation with the school, assess the proposal and respond to it.

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister for his reply. In general, I support the overriding objective that every child, including children in this catchment area, have access to a physical school place. I acknowledge that the application was only received by the Department on 2 November. I act fast, as does the school, but so, too, does the Minister. I hope he will be able to give this application due consideration. This is an example of a school that is planning for the future in a forward-thinking way. I imagine that the Minister wants schools to do this and work constructively with their elected representatives and others to ensure current and future demands are met. In that regard, the school is obviously doing the right thing. It has made the application, but it has asked us to convey directly to the Minister the fact that there will be an increase in the enrolment number next year. It expects further growth in future years. It is trying to plan ahead and avoid getting caught in circumstances in which, as the Minister said in terms of the overriding objective, accommodation will not be sufficient to meet the demand. I acknowledge that the application was only made recently. I appreciate that the Minister and his officials will have to consider it in the context of many other demands being made. Perhaps, if there is positive movement in the short term, the Minister might communicate this to all local Oireachtas Members.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I acknowledge what the school is doing. A doubling of the size of the school represents a significant expansion. The Department, without knowing the details of circumstances locally, will have to consider capacity in other schools and where pupils are being drawn from. There is a matrix of criteria that the Department uses in assessing applications. As stated, it will be in touch with the school directly to assess the proposal.