Jen Cummins (Dublin South Central, Social Democrats)
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As this is my first Topical Issue, hopefully I will get the timing and all the rest of it right. I thank the Minister of State for taking this and wish him the very best of luck in his new role. I do not think I have congratulated him yet.

Today, I am asking about families in Dublin 8 who are looking to have a multidenominational secondary school for their children. They have been campaigning for a number of years and I have been involved with them over the past little while.

I suppose mine is one of those original families from a long time ago. When our family was looking for a multidenominational secondary school in the Dublin 8 area where I live, unfortunately, there was not one. We are a Unitarian family and, therefore, we would prefer our children to be educated in a multidenominational school. That suits our ethos. We also believe that religion should be done at home or after school. Many families in Dublin 8 are now facing this issue. I suppose we had this as a family in 2016 and my children do not go to school in Dublin 8 but travel outside of the area. The reason I am giving that personal information is because it is reflective of the families who are now fighting for a secondary school for their children in the future. Many of those children are still in primary school but they are looking to the future.

The fact is 38% of people in Dublin 8 identify as Catholic. That leaves a very large proportion who do not. It is one of the lowest proportions in the country, along with the north inner city and the south-east inner city. In Dublin 8, however, there is not one multidenominational second-level school.

Despite the youth population growing by 30% in the past decade, far exceeding the city and national averages, more than 50% of the children living in Dublin 8 are forced to leave the area for secondary school, including, as I said, my own children. By 2026, 2,135 students will need to travel outside the community daily. Parents have made their wishes clear and while 89% of them have said they want their children to attend a local secondary school, the system is not allowing for that. As a parent of children - teenagers and one who is 21 - let me tell the Minister of State that collecting your child outside your neighbourhood at the end of a party on a Saturday or Friday night is really a pain. As well as that, when they get a bit older, they do not want to be collected and they want to come home, the worry of that is quite immense. Being educated in your area with your friends is the preference for those 89% of parents who want to have their children educated there.

It is about parental choice and not having the ability to send your child to a school which reflects the ethos of the family. When those parents send their children to primary schools where they are educated in a multidenominational way, they would like to continue that for secondary school. The Department has stated previously that there is sufficient capacity in Dublin 8 but this is questioned by that group. They do not believe that. Where does the capacity exist for multidenominational schools when there is not one? Where is the capacity being reached there?

They also question the fact that other areas, such as Booterstown, Blackrock, Goatstown and Harold's Cross, have all been granted multidenominational schools but there are many more co-educational schools in those areas than there are in Dublin 8, and they are wondering why Dublin 8 is not being treated the same.

They also wonder about planning as a huge amount of planning and building is happening in Dublin 8 at present. Where will the capacity be for the people moving into those apartments or homes? If they have children, where will they go to school? Where is the capacity there?

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Cummins. The Deputy's first Topical Issue was extremely well delivered. The Deputy may have answered the question in her own statement but we will get to that later. I appreciate the comments and I will feed back a lot of that.

On the provision of multidenominational education, the Government is committed to increasing the provision of education in line with the choices of parents, families and school communities. Work is under way in the Department, by the Minister, Deputy McEntee, to deliver on this objective. Since 2011, new arrangements have been in place for the establishment of new schools involving the forecasting of demand for school places based on demographic exercises carried out by the Department. The new criterion for new school entities ensures that all new schools are co-educational, but ethos is determined during the patronage process.

These arrangements give an opportunity to patrons to apply for the patronage of new schools. The criteria used in deciding on the patronage of new schools place a particular emphasis on parental preference and language preferences and an analysis of existing provision in the areas where the schools are being established. This approach is underpinned by a 2011 Government decision.

The patronage process is open to all patron bodies and prospective patrons. New schools are only established in areas of demographic growth, as the resources available for school infrastructure must be prioritised to meet the needs of areas of significant population increase to ensure that every child has a school place. Based on demographic analysis undertaken, it is deemed that there is not a sufficient unmet demand in Dublin 8 to establish a new school at present and that increasing demographics can be met from within existing schools. Requirements for school places will be kept under ongoing review in this region and across the country.

Separately, the schools reconfiguration for diversity process, supporting transfers of schools to multidenominational patrons in response to the wishes of local communities, has been developed in order to accelerate the delivery of multidenominational schools. When a school transfers from the patronage of one patron to another, the school remains open with the same roll number and operating from the same school property. All State-funded primary schools follow a common national curriculum and are subject to the same Department rules and regulations.

Given the importance of increasing choice for parents, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, intends to launch a survey of primary school communities shortly. This survey will ensure we have a greater picture as to what our plans need to be into the future. It is planned that the survey will ask parents for their preferences on important aspects of school provision and choice, including demand for a multidenominational ethos. The results of the survey will help us plan how we provide education at primary level into the future. Further details regarding the survey will be announced in due course.

I realise this may not be the answer Deputy Cummins is looking for. According to the Department’s statistics and its analysis of the area, it feels there are no unmet needs in the Dublin 8 area but it has also given a chink of light, in that the matter is under review. I have outlined the other process where a school can be transferred to multidenominational management if there is a will and desire among the parents in the school community to do that. I can get the Deputy more details on that process if necessary.

Jen Cummins (Dublin South Central, Social Democrats)
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I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive answer. Yes, it is not the answer I want but God loves a trier. The reconfiguration process has been very slow to date. The previous programme for Government had it that, I think, 400 schools would be transferred. Unfortunately, that number has not been reached yet and I did not see it in the programme for Government this time.

The survey has been promised for quite a long time and I am anxious to know when exactly it will happen. The reply said there was no unmet need in Dublin 8. Will the Minister of State clarify if that is because there is a suggestion that students in Dublin 8 should travel to Dublin 10, Kylemore College, and Dublin 12, Clogher Road?

I know Sandymount Park Educate Together Secondary School, whose open day some years ago I was happy to attend as chair of Educate Together, is a thriving school and doing very well but a number of my neighbours and friends’ children attend that school and take two buses. They leave at 7.25 a.m. and get a bus into town and a bus out to Sandymount. Those children are exhausted coming back from school. The other day, I spoke to a friend whose child was often unable to get out of bed because he was so tired from the long journey. If that is the school provision for Dublin 8, it is too far away from the students. I know that is what it was supposed to do, but two bus trips is not in the community even if the Department says it is.

How quick can reconfiguration happen? On the survey, when will we know? If there will be a transfer, how can that group be supported to identify those schools? Has the Department identified which schools could be part of that transfer of patronage?

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy has asked some questions that I will endeavour to get answers to, namely, how long the survey and the process of reconfiguration will take. On the unmet needs in Dublin 8, I assume it does not take into account whether there is a desire to have multidenominational education or under different patronage. We can find that out. The approach is that, if capacity of any type can be met within any of the existing schools, the Department will favour that route.

I take the Deputy’s point about the other areas not far from Dublin 8 where they have managed to establish multidenominational schools. She mentioned Harold's Cross and other examples. I will ask how those decisions came to be and how recent was the analysis that decided there was no unmet need in Dublin 8. As the Deputy noted, there is a lot of building in the Dublin 8 area. It is becoming a very popular place to live and it is a fantastic area, so we may see the population trending in a certain direction that may require the need to investigate this further. I have taken note of those questions and will take them back.