Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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Page 89 of the programme for Government states:

We will publish new School Admissions and Excellence legislation taking account of current draft proposals (publication of school enrolment policies, an end to waiting lists, introduction of annual enrolment structures, and transparency and fairness in admissions for pupils). We will seek to enact this legislation for the start of school year 2017-18.

At the end of last year, the Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016 went through Second Stage in the Dáil and has yet to be taken on Committee Stage. One point in respect of this that I would like to raise is capacity and how this affects school admissions. How will this Bill help parents in Fingal? I am raising this Topical Issue matter with the Minister given the incredible urgency that exists to increase capacity in Dublin Fingal and schools in north County Dublin where parents are being told that there are no places for their children in September. Parents are contacting me in large volumes. They are worried sick because they have nowhere to send their child. They are worried there are no places, that these children are too old for preschool placements and that there are no alternatives. Years after putting their children's names down, they are being told that, come September, their efforts will be redundant because there is no room and the children will not be admitted.

I live in the fastest growing county in the country. We have a growing young population which means that, effectively, this problem will only get worse. Obviously, I do not mean children are the problem. Children are lovely. I mean that the problem of where they are to be taught will get worse. I will read out some of the e-mails I have received. One related to a school in Swords. It stated:

We have a son already attending the school and our second son, who was 4 last December and will be ready for school in September. With this in mind and as he already has a sibling attending the school we assumed that he would automatically get his school place in September. We enrolled him with the school last month only to receive the news last Thursday that he was 24th on a waiting list of over 100 children for a place in the school. So basically he has no place in our local school ... We were also informed that our son has no place in his preschool in September because the pre-school were of the opinion he would be starting school in September. His place was offered to a younger child. He also misses out on his free pre-school place due to his age and date of birth.

Another e-mail involved a school in Balbriggan. It stated:

I have a daughter who will be 4 years of age on the 27th of February, 2017. We enrolled her last year. Today we received a letter to say they cannot offer her a placement for September as all placements were filled from category 2 of the Enrolment Policy. This category is in relation to child's age. The cut off is the end of March which she meets. Brothers and sisters of present pupils of the school, which she meets ... She is from the catchment area ... we have been here for 17 years and is Catholic. On phoning the school I was told that they had a lot of older children applying for places this year.

Problems are rolling over from one year to the next and are having knock-on effects. Problems getting one cohort into school in one year means these children are applying again the next year as older children thus preventing other children coming through from getting a place.

Will the Minister advise me as to what I should tell these people? I received another e-mail from parents who want to send their child to a Gaeilscoil. They are Gaeilgeoirí, something we should be encouraging. They have had their child's name down for three years and have just been informed there is no place. There is issue with under-capacity. I am sure it is not exclusive to my constituency but I believe it is a more acute problem there. I want to know what I can say to those people. Their children deserve a place in school. They have been diligent in terms of keeping up with the waiting lists. What am I to tell them?

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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To avoid confusion, the Education (Admission to Schools) Bill does not involve the building programme. The Bill is about the admissions policies that schools operate. It deals with how schools deal with children with special needs, how they set their priorities-----

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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I am aware of that.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy's opening question was how the Bill would impact the problem in Swords. It is not designed to specifically build more schools. It is designed to have a consistent and transparent policy. That Bill is before the House and will go to Committee Stage. Pre-legislative hearings on some of these issues are taking place within the committee.

I am very conscious that there is population pressure in Swords. My Department is reviewing the demographic data for the Swords school planning area as part of its general assessment. My Department also has been in direct contact with a number of primary schools in the Swords area in respect of their junior infant capacity. In that regard, it is understood that at least one school is undersubscribed and has expressed a willingness to enrol further junior infants in September 2017, if necessary. As the Deputy will appreciate, it is important that school size is monitored and that a balance is preserved among all schools in school planning areas to ensure one school is not expanding at the expense or the viability of another school.

There are about 13 different planning areas in the north Dublin area. Four new schools have been built since 2011, so this is an area where there is continuing expansion. The demographic data are being reviewed again to see whether we are at a point where additional capacity needs to be planned for. As of today, the Department's assessment is that the need of junior infants enrolling in the schools in the Swords area will be met by the available places. Unfortunately, that does not always mean that a parent applying to the school of their preference gets the school they wanted. I know some schools have longer waiting lists. That is the current position. The Department will continue to assess needs. The building programme seeks to respond to the pressure of population demand.

It goes back to the point I made to Deputy Griffin. Each year, we must deliver 20,000 additional school places. The planning is such that it is only when the demographic need is clearly established that we trigger construction. That is the only way we can meet the pressure of demand but we are meeting that demand. The assessment will go ahead in Swords.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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There are 100 children on a waiting list at the moment. The person I spoke to is No. 24 on that list. Is the Minister suggesting that the capacity exists in a school in Swords to absorb 100 additional pupils? I do not think he is suggesting this and I do not think the school has this capacity. I put it to him that we have a particular problem in north County Dublin that extends beyond Swords. It concerns the age of the population there. It is a serious issue.

I am still not sure what I will say to those parents who are deeply distressed and not just because their children cannot go to the local school. There are parents who have tried schools in the area and who cannot get their children admitted. This is only February. My prediction is that this will get worse because more parents are going to hear about it as these things happen. They are going to pick up the phone and question the school and they are going to be told the same thing. If a person is No. 24 on a waiting list of 100, I do not think the Minister is suggesting that those 100 pupils can be accommodated in the one school in Swords that has a bit of capacity. Perhaps the Minister could indicate if he has information because the information I have relates to discussions I have had with individual schools. All of the policies prohibit canvassing so, clearly, we are not going to get into that space. Does the Minister have an idea-----

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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What do they prohibit?

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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They prohibit canvassing. Canvassing is not appropriate because if there are not enough places, it is an issue about capacity rather than anything else.

What am I to say to these parents? They cannot send their children to preschool and have been told they do not have a place. The capacity identified in the one school will not be enough.

Does the Minister have an idea of how many people are currently on waiting lists?

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The difficulty with waiting list data is that waiting lists are maintained by individual schools and the same child may appear on several waiting lists. Therefore, they are not the only indicator of the relationship between supply and demand. The position my Department has outlined to me is that there are 13 primary schools in the Swords area. They obviously have a junior infant intake. I do not know what it is but presumably it is in or around the 500 mark across those 13 schools. The Department's assessment indicates that capacity will be enough to meet the total junior infant enrolment need in the Swords area this year. However, they are assessing the demographic pressures and they recognise that there are growing pressures on the system. They are assessing the need in the Swords area. In terms of the Department's assessment of the position, there are enough junior infant class places to meet the need at present. I will bring the points the Deputy made to the attention of the Department and get it to double-check the enrolment figures because this assessment is now under way.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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The question relates to north County Dublin and not just to Swords. I would therefore be grateful if the Minister could broaden out those questions to the Department.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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Yes, I-----

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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If the Minister and the Deputy want a discussion, I suggest they meet in the margins.