Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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It is hardly necessary for me to rehearse all of the issues again. We have had this discussion several times already. On 1 March, the Minister advised me that one of the primary schools in Swords was undersubscribed, if not to the extent that it would be able to absorb the excess capacity, although he failed to mention that it was a boys-only school and, therefore, not in a position to deal with the full waiting list. The Minister said he would monitor the situation as the schools completed their enrolment process in the coming weeks. That was ten weeks ago. While I hate to say it given the fact that the children have not even had their summer holidays, we are quickly approaching September. Some two or three weeks ago, I spoke with a number of parents with children in the Holy Family national school at the moment whose siblings are waiting to attend. They have been in touch with me since to say they still have no clarity. It appears that the Minister is waiting for this situation to somehow magically resolve itself, but it is not going to. There is a need for action on the part of the Minister and the Department to deal with this on a proactive basis. It is not a case that will sort itself out once the waiting lists are cleared because there are children who are going to be left without places. The last time we discussed this, I asked the Minister if he would consider emergency or temporary measures. I also asked him to consider doing everything possible. I want to hear from him this evening what will be done because these people will be back onto my office as well as to those of the other Members representing the area.

This is a very serious issue in particular for those people whose children are already in the school with siblings waiting to attend. It is also very serious for those children born in November and December. They are not eligible for an additional year of the ECCE scheme and, as such, cannot go back to crèche. Their parents face having to return them to and pay for crèche facilities. At least one mother maintains it will probably not be worth her while to work given that she will have to pay over so much money. It is unfair to leave families waiting in limbo.

The Minister will not dispute that we have a growing population as evidenced by the census. While it is clear we need something done in the short term, there is a real need in Swords to increase school capacity in the long term. This is not a case of parents saying they only want their children to go to the local school. If the Minister has ever been in Swords in the morning, he will know that it is not possible for these parents to drop one sibling to the Holy Family and to then make it in any reasonable time to another part of Swords to drop another child off at a different school. It is also not reasonable to expect siblings to go to separate schools. All these parents want is to be able to educate sibling children in the school that is closest to their homes and rooted in the community where their children play sports and are growing up among their friends. While it is a long time since I had to think about these issues, that is all I wanted as a parent myself. It is what most parents want.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Louise O'Reilly for raising this issue again and I understand the concern. There are 11 schools in the Swords area which enrol junior infants and they run across the spectrum from Catholic schools, one Gaelscoil, Educate Together and a Church of Ireland school. The basic problem here is that the Holy Family junior national school is maxed out and cannot take in additional junior infants at this point. It is already full and its senior school, which would also have to take any increased enrolment, is on a very constrained site. As such, expanding capacity at the Holy Family junior national school is not an option.

There are 760 children who are due to be taken into junior infants across the 11 schools in Swords. I am told that two schools currently have junior infant places available. St. Cronin's, which has the largest number of available places, is a mixed school, not an all-boys school. The schools have also expressed a willingness to offer further junior infant places for September 2017 if necessary. As such, there is capacity available to meet the need. The Department is very much aware of the position in the Holy Family school, which has 26 mainstream teachers and an enrolment of 680 pupils. We have been liaising across the various schools to check their waiting lists. As the Deputy knows, there is multiple enrolment on waiting lists, which makes it difficult to identify exactly what is the need.

The underlying difficulty outlined by Deputy O'Reilly is that parents want their children to go to the nearest school and I can understand entirely why this is the case, but the Department has to operate on the basis not just of the local school but groups of schools. We have to plan across planning areas and in this case we are doing so.

The Department remains of the belief there is sufficient capacity there, but has recognised schools that could expand to meet that need in September should that be necessary. That is the current position. I fully recognise this is a very rapidly growing area and there is no doubt that based on demographics we will be looking at the need for additional schools in Swords and in fairly short order. I am sure that is the case. For this coming September, the Department remains of the view that between the existing schools, which either have existing capacity to provide or can do so without constraining a site, which is the difficulty in Holy Family junior national school, they can take on extra junior infant children on a sustainable basis and are able to see them right through the school. There are schools available to do that. I can understand the difficulty when a parent wants a child to go to a particular school, or a child has a sibling in a particular school. That is the position as of now and the Department is very closely monitoring the situation. Expanding the capacity in Holy Family junior national school is just not an option available of to us, as I am informed.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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I do not think the Minister has looked at the capacity in Holy Family junior national school in any meaningful way. I ask that he speak to his officials and advise them to liaise directly with the board of management of the school and engage with the parents. I would not ask the Minister to take my word for it. There are 27 children on the waiting list out of 107 who have siblings in the school already. It is not possible for these children to be dropped in the morning and for their parents then to head out into the traffic in Swords, which is really problematic first thing in the morning. It is not possible for these parents to get to the other school on time without leaving the sibling in Holy Family junior national school too early. This is further complicated for parents who are trying to get to work, again trying to make their way through the traffic. There is a problem. The Minister has told me he will monitor it, but I have not heard anything from him with regard to the solution. I ask that the Minister and his officials meet the board of management to discuss with it every and any option that might be available, and meet directly with the parents so they can explain their concerns. I have met these people. They are very ordinary people. They are not people who would seek something outrageous from the Department of Education and Skills. They are telling me, and I am telling the Minister, it is not possible for them to be able to drop their children in the morning and then make it to another school. If a child has a sibling in a school already it creates its own problems. They do not want anything other than the capacity to be able to have their children educated in their community, where they play sports and live, where their friends are and where their siblings go to school.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I asked directly this question of my officials, in other words whether Holy Family junior national school can be expanded, and they answered directly it is maxed out in terms of the existing accommodation, permanent and temporary, and the current devolved grant development is to replace existing prefab accommodation. That will leave the site constricted. Also, any development of the junior national school has implications for the senior national school. All pupils from the junior national school progress to the senior national school. The site of the senior national school has no capacity for further development, hence the need to control the junior infant intake. In other words, it is not sustainable, as the Deputy is suggesting, to expand the school. That is not a sustainable solution. This is the advice of the Department. I understand the patron has advised the junior national school can accommodate the pupils on the waiting list in September 2018. As I said, other schools in the catchment have the capacity to meet the demand and can expand this capacity if necessary. This is the position. Obviously when a site such as this is maxed out and there is a growing need we need to look at the need for an additional school. I have no doubt that will be on the agenda very shortly in the Swords area. The advice to me is very clear that the capacity is not there to expand the school the Deputy wants to have expanded. We have to have other offerings made to accommodate those families. That is what the Department is doing. If I had a solution to this I would offer it. We are not trying to be obtuse. I will certainly convey the concerns, which I know other Deputies have raised in the House. I know it is a genuine concern the Deputy is raising.