Martin Ferris (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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I want to raise an issue that has been ongoing for some time in Milltown, County Kerry. I refer to the Presentation secondary school facilities, the Nagle Rice primary school and the lack of places within the former for young children coming out of the latter. They are unable to get places in the secondary school because there are none. All of this goes back to the huge population growth in Milltown and the expansion of the town. Milltown had a population of 401 in 2006, 838 in 2011 and 928 in 2018. There has also been an increase in the number of houses. Some 50% of the houses in the town were built in the period between 2002 and 2011.

The admission criteria being applied mean that those who get into secondary school from the catchment area of Milltown need to have historical ties to it, as well as having an older sibling in the secondary school. The consequences of that are that those coming out of the Nagle Rice primary school who do not have that attachment or who do not have an older sibling in the school have to go elsewhere and attend a secondary school outside Milltown.

Population growth throughout the 18 catchment areas is predicted to be substantial. The population includes many young couples who in many cases come from ethnically diverse backgrounds, primarily Lithuania and Poland. They have the added pressure of trying to find a secondary school in the much wider catchment area, which means that they might have to travel to Killorglin, Fieries or elsewhere in the area to find a secondary school. There is no bus service for those children to bring them to school, which adds cost. It is absurd that a child who studies in Milltown primary school and resides in the area cannot access secondary education in the town where they were born and live. It is a terrible cost and having to pay for a bus service to transport a child to another secondary school, due to the criteria, puts a great deal of pressure on the families. Many of the people come from low-income families, yet they must provide the service.

The solution is to expand the Presentation secondary school by providing additional rooms to allow it to accommodate children from the area. While we wait for that to happen, in the short term the Department has an obligation to provide some form of bus funding for children who must travel outside the area. There is also an urgent need for dialogue with the community. The current issue is creating division, in that children who were born, reared and are starting school in Milltown are unable to secure a place in their local secondary school, while children born far outside the district are given places because of historical connections.

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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I understand exactly what the Deputy means because even though I am not a Minister of State at the Department of Education and Skills, I have taken a real interest in this issue because of a similar situation arising in Ennis. I apologise on behalf of the Minister, Deputy McHugh, who is away on official Government business.

To plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data, the Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and uses a geographic information system, GIS, with data from a range of sources, to identify where the pressure for school places will arise in various parts of the country. With this information, the Department carries out nationwide demographic exercises to determine where additional school accommodation is needed at primary and post-primary level. Where data indicate that additional provision is required, the delivery of such provision is dependent on the circumstances of each case and as such may be provided through one or a combination of the following, namely, using existing unused capacity within a school or schools, extending the capacity of a school or schools or providing a new school or schools. Using school planning area boundaries within the Department’s GIS allows data within those boundaries, including data for enrolments in schools, child benefit and other relevant data, to be added to the mapping information, grouped and analysed. In most cases, school planning areas were based on traditional school catchment areas, where all primary schools were assigned to a post-primary feeder area, typically a population centre or town, containing one or more post-primary schools.

The school planning areas are used in the demographic exercise as a basis for the assessment of areas of growth and to inform recommendations on the establishment of any new schools required in the school planning area. The question of enrolment in individual schools is the responsibility of the managerial authorities of those schools. It is the responsibility of the managerial authorities of schools to implement an enrolment policy in accordance with the Education Act 1998 and the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018. The Department’s main responsibility is to ensure that schools in an area can together cater for all pupils seeking places. Parents have the right to choose which school to apply to and where the school has places available, the pupil should be admitted. In schools where there are more applicants than places available, however, a selection process may be necessary. The process and the enrolment policy on which it is based must be non-discriminatory and applied fairly to all applicants.

As the Deputy will be aware, the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018, which was signed into law by the President on 18 July 2018, is important legislation that will introduce a more parent-friendly, equitable and consistent approach to how school admissions policy operates for the almost 4,000 primary and post-primary schools and a fair and balanced school admission process for all pupils. The Deputy will further be aware there are three post-primary schools in mid-Kerry, namely, the Presentation secondary school, Milltown, The Intermediate School, Killorglin and Killorglin community college. The Department has no outstanding applications for capital funding for additional accommodation from the post-primary schools in mid-Kerry, which indicates that the schools are able to cater for their current pupil cohort. I will provide more detail in my supplementary reply.

Martin Ferris (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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Given that the Minister of State is dealing with a similar situation, I am sure he is aware of the concerns and associated problems. In the area in question, there are three secondary schools - two in Killorglin and one in Milltown. There is no short-term solution; it must be planned and carefully considered. In Killorglin, given that there has been an increase in the population of well over 100% in a short period, with the new Irish who live there and a young population, provisions must be made to ensure that the needs and requirements of the parents and children will be realised. Throughout the area, young children will have to travel to schools outside Milltown but within the catchment area where they can find places. Some type of funding needs to be provided for children who are unable to attend their nearest school. That is the short-term solution. I refer to low-income families, who need such support. There needs to be dialogue with the community and a commitment to listen. The Department, civil servants and so on tend not to listen but they need to listen to the community. There was recently a large meeting attended by hundreds of people, including those from outside Milltown who send their children to the Presentation secondary school because they have historical ties or other children enrolled there, and parents whose children were born and live in Milltown, outside the catchment area, but who are unable to secure a place for them in Nagle Rice secondary school. It is very unfair. The Department needs to meet the community, the parents and all the schools in the area to work out a plan to facilitate the children to attend school in the area where they live.

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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The current enrolment in the Presentation secondary school, The Intermediate School and Killorglin community college is 606, 494 and 277, respectively. As the Department has outlined, there are no outstanding applications from any of the schools for additional accommodation. Nevertheless, for the benefit of the Deputy, whose point I understand, I appreciate this is a very stressful time for parents and their families, particularly as they await correspondence from secondary schools informing them whether they have secured a place for September. It is a trying time but we have all seen it for ourselves in our constituency offices. It is a terrible time for students and their families, which is why it is important that some plan be put in place to help in that regard. I again refer the Deputy to the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018, which was signed by the President last July. It is important legislation that will begin to relieve the situation and it allows for co-operation among the school boards. I am not sure whether there is full co-operation among the three schools in question but it could be ensured under section 66 of the Act, which relates to co-operation among schools. It allows schools to share information with one another in respect of applications received, offers made and accepted and so on. It would help to prevent a situation where one student might be offered a place in more than one school.

This does happen, as the Deputy knows, and it means people delay making a choice. This is an issue. There could be data sharing between the three schools during the admission process. The schools may argue a GDPR issue would arise but people could sign up to it as part of the admissions process. It would be helpful also because it would give a more even space to students who would know that if they do not take a place, it will go to somebody else. It is happening.

The Deputy referred to accommodation. The Minister has told me the Department will consider any application for interim temporary accommodation should it be required to meet the immediate enrolment needs of any school. My personal advice to the Deputy, because I have been through this myself, is if accommodation is needed, the Department will consider temporary accommodation based on needs. The Deputy's question relates to what I have outlined. The issue of co-operation on school boards is important with regard to data sharing to see who is taking up offers. It might help to alleviate the situation. As I said, no application has been made by the three schools for extra accommodation. Perhaps this is something the Deputy might consider. I thank him for raising the issue. It is not just an issue in Kerry and Clare, it probably affects other areas also.