Dáil debates
Wednesday, 25 June 2025
Ábhair Shaincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Matters
School Accommodation
2:10 am
Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal East, Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State for being here this morning. I represent Dublin Fingal East in north County Dublin, which has a very young and fast-growing population. There is a lack of primary school places in the village of Portmarnock, which is an issue I have been raising for a number of months. I have tabled parliamentary questions to the Minister. Unfortunately the responses have been most unsatisfactory. I tabled a parliamentary question about primary school places and get a response about post-primary school enrolments and the pressures in that space. That is the not the question I was asking, which is why I am bringing the matter to the floor of the House. I will continue to raise it because I feel strongly, and the data will back this up, that we are in for a crisis that is manifesting itself in Portmarnock. The reality on the ground is very different from the version the Minister has outlined in her response to my parliamentary question. Primary schools have only been taking children up to the November birthday in the first round and the December birthday in the second round, which is becoming earlier and earlier this year. Essentially, children born after December are being told that there is no room at the inn when it comes to primary school places in Portmarnock. Children are beginning to have to start school at age six. This is before the crisis has reached its peak.
I will throw a lot of figures at the Minister of State. We estimate that there will be a 120-place deficit per year for children in the area in the very near future. This is likely to be a bit of an underestimation. I thank a number of residents in Portmarnock who have assisted in gathering this data for me. Based on publicly available data from the CSO and the Department of Education and planning permission websites in respect of new estates, the 2022 census captured the under-5s population to be 602 children. These children would have been in the area by April 2022, the time of the most recent census. Taking an even division of ages zero to four, that would equal approximately 120 children requiring junior infants placement and subsequent primary school class places from September 2022 to 2026. However, since the latest census there have been several large housing developments in the area, namely Dún Sí, Skylark, St. Marnock's Bay and Drumnigh Manor, increasing the population in the area rapidly. These housing developments are of course welcome but they need to be paired with increased infrastructure. I have worked up a couple of examples for the developments and the estimated and expected number of children need primary school places from these estates alone. The Skylark development has 982 units proposed, providing mainly three- and four-bed family units. Nationally 69% of households in Ireland are families, based on the 2020 figures. The Fingal county average for the number of children per family is 1.42, a conservative value based on anecdotal evidence from the Portmarnock area. Using these conservative estimates of these 982 units, there would be an expected 962 children in this one estate alone. Extrapolating the same logic for Drumnigh Manor, where there is a total of 278 units of which approximately 100 were sold around the time of the April 2022 census, leaving 170 further units, that would be an estimated 174 children within these households. That is a total of 1,136 children estimated to be residing in these estates alone once complete, a sub-population of the total Portmarnock area which is not taking into account families that are moving into the older houses of which there are many. Not all children are the same age, of course. It is estimated that over the next two to seven years, there will be a need for approximately 220 to 230 junior infants placements each year for the children of Portmarnock. The two existing brilliant primary schools in the area have a combined capacity of 120 to 140 children based on the catchment size data.
Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. It gives me the opportunity to remind the House on behalf of the Minister for Education and Youth of the significant challenges facing us in meeting increasing demand for pupil places throughout the country. As the Deputy raised the issue of Portmarnock in the coming years, I am grateful for the opportunity to clarify the position on the provision of primary school places in Portmarnock, Co. Dublin.
I assure him that the provision of both mainstream and special education school places to meet the needs of children and young people at primary and post-primary level is an absolute priority for the Department of Education and Youth. The annual enrolment process for new junior infants at primary and new first years at post-primary is a very large-scale operation that is transacted at close to 4,000 schools across the country, involving 140,000 pupils. The Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and utilises a geographical information system to anticipate school place demand to plan for school place needs. Information from a range of sources, including child benefit data, school enrolment data and information on residential development activity is used for this purpose. Additionally, Project Ireland 2040 population and housing targets inform the Department's projections of school place requirements.
Portmarnock school planning area, SPA, has five primary schools. The SPA enrolments are projected to peak in 2027 with enrolments decreasing thereafter. While the Department is aware of enrolment pressures and demand for additional school places in some areas, including Portmarnock, it is important to note that enrolment pressures can be driven by duplication of applications, applications from outside an area, and school of choice factors. Notwithstanding the above, in some areas, demographic pressures and other factors are driving a requirement for additional school places. I have heard the Deputy regarding the matter he has raised here in terms of a deficit of places. Since 2020, the Department has invested over €6 billion in our schools throughout the country under the national development plan, involving the completion of over 1,375 school building projects. Government support for this investment, including by way of supplementary capital funding, has delivered real benefits for school communities. A recent Government decision approved €210 million supplementary capital funding for the Department, which brings the total capital allocation for 2025 for the Department to €1.6 billion.
The Department currently has a school building project for Malahide Portmarnock ETNS, which is at stage 2b or planning stage of the architectural process.
This project is for a new 16 mainstream classroom primary school, with four special educational needs classrooms to accommodate pupils with special educational needs. The Department also has two additional school accommodation projects to provide additional capacity in the area, namely for St. Nicholas of Myra national school, and St. Helen’s senior national school, which are both at stage 1 or initial design.
As part of the national development plan review process, all Departments, including the Department of education, are engaging with the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation with respect to NDP allocations for the period from 2026 to 2030. It is expected that there will be clarity on these allocations over the course of the summer period, and this will allow the Department to plan its capital investment programme for the 2026 to 2030 period, in line with prioritised needs and reflecting, as appropriate, wider Government priorities.
Maximising existing capacity in schools to meet needs is very important. The progression of prioritised individual projects to meet the most urgent needs in the four-year window between 2026 and 2030 period, which cannot be met through existing capacity across schools in the local area, will be considered on a rolling basis from autumn onwards, after the NDP allocations are finalised.
The Department's main responsibility is to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking school places in the area. In relation to school admissions, it is the responsibility of the managerial authorities of all schools to implement an enrolment policy in accordance with the Education Act 1998.
I will bring back the Deputy's remarks on the figures he has raised. If he wants to give them to me I will happily give them to the Minister again. The Department will continue to keep school place requirements in the Portmarnock school planning area, as with all other areas, under review.
2:20 am
Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal East, Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State. I sit on school boards, as the Minister of State probably does or has done. I am aware of the matter of duplication. This is why we have presented the data in its baldest form. Duplication is not an issue. I know it sometimes is an issue in other towns but it is not an issue in Portmarnock.
The development and provision of a large new school building for Malahide Portmarnock Educate Together is very welcome but it will not solve the issue with regard to Portmarnock alone. The enrolment policy of Educate Together is not geographically based. The school will serve kids in Malahide, Kinsealy and Portmarnock. The new estates being built in the south end of Portmarnock right beside the train station are high density, as I outlined. There is a very young population. A greenway is being built from Baldoyle through Portmarnock, going up the village on its way. It will be a wonderful active travel facility. This is a natural place for parents to be able to walk, cycle or scoot their children up to the existing St. Marnock's primary school, or a little further on to St. Helen's. This is why it is about the provision of capacity in the village, which is where these houses are.
When applying for planning permission for these houses, the developer mentioned up to eight schools in the area that could cope with the increase in children these houses would bring. However, the vast majority of these schools are not in Portmarnock and have enrolment policies that preclude children from these estates attending. There are schools in Sutton, Howth and Bayside. This is a very serious issue and we have compiled the data. I will send it to the Minister and I ask the Minister of State to do so also. We will be back on this issue. It is different from other areas, which is why I am setting it out here. With a bit of planning it could be resolved by the Department.
Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Smith for raising the issue and I hear his remarks and concerns regarding the provision of school places at primary level in Portmarnock. The Department uses data from a range of sources, including child benefit data, enrolments and information on new residential developments to plan for school placement needs. I will take the points Deputy Smith has made back, and I ask him to provide the information to me so that I can give it to the Minister and the Department. There has been significant investment in school infrastructure since 2020. The Department is continually planning for, and investing in, existing and new schools throughout the country. The nature of the admission process is considerable and quite complex as offers and acceptance continue to transact. There can be significant overlap and duplicate applications throughout areas and schools. While some applications may not yet have received an offer for a school place for 2025 to 2026, families can be assured that all children who require a school place will be provided with one. I will take the Deputy's remarks back and I hear his concerns most definitely.
Aidan Farrelly (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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We do not have written responses for the first two Topical Issues. I am sure we will have them provided as soon as possible afterwards.
Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael)
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I apologise because I was not given copies of the script.