Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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I want to raise with the Minister of State a really urgent and time-sensitive issue. As he is well aware, Wicklow town and Rathnew have seen a huge population increase in recent years. We have probably had 800 to 1,000 new homes built there. Very many of them are family homes for young families. We have seen people coming from other counties into the area.

I was made aware last week that there is a major issue in regard to primary school places. There are six primary schools in the area: St. Coen's, St. Patrick's, Holy Rosary School, Glebe National School, Educate Together and Gaelscoil Chill Mhantáin. All six of those schools came together in January because they had identified a capacity issue. They raised concerns with the Department in January saying that they believed they would be absolutely oversubscribed for September.

Their fears have come to fruition. The Department was in contact with them and asked them to identify how many unique children who had no place were on the waiting list. They identified 119 primary school children who do not have a place in any of those six schools for September. Of the students, 36 are junior infants and the rest of them are spread across the other school years. That clearly demonstrates that these are existing families who moved into the area and might have a child in second class or fourth class. Those children need places in their hometowns. They will not be able to get to Dublin to attend school there. That is not feasible.

I ask the Minister of State and the Minister of education to send someone to sit down with the six school principals because they want to find a solution. I believe one of the schools has the capacity for an extra school class, which might suit junior infants. Obviously, someone needs to look at each of the years and work out a solution for each of those. There might be potential for some movement in other schools as well.

This also identifies a more ongoing issue. It is one we have seen in Wicklow for years. When I moved to Wicklow 15 or 16 years ago, I could not get my child into a school. The problem was starting then. There was a big population increase. What we are now seeing is that cohort and that increase in population moving from north Wicklow down and across the county. We need a new school in Newtownmountkennedy and there is certainly capacity for a new primary school in the Wicklow town and Rathnew area, but that is probably a longer discussion.

In the interim, and as an emergency need, we need a departmental official to go to Wicklow town to meet the six principals. All those schools have finished up for the summer. Those children do not know where they are going and they have to do things like getting uniforms. The children need to be prepared. They are simple things but they are so important for a good transition. Those children will not be prepared for school.

In addition, the staff will be expected to perhaps set up new classes but the schools are closed. It will be logistically difficult. I ask that a departmental official is sent immediately to sit down with those principals and come up with a solution.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will know, I am very aware of this issue and I have been lobbied intensely by the local councillors. I will lay out a few points for the interest of the Chamber before I get to the meat of the ask, as is appropriate in such a debate.

It is important to state for the record that the annual enrolment process for new junior infants at primary and new first years at post-primary is a very large-scale operation. It is transacted at close to 4,000 schools across the country, involving some 140,000 pupils. I know because my daughter is one of them for next year.

While the Department is aware of enrolment pressures and demand for additional school places in some areas, including Wicklow town and Rathnew, and south County Dublin, there is generally provision across the country, which I think we all can accept, notwithstanding the demographic pressures and others that are driving these factors.

As part of the NDP review process, all Departments, including the Department of Education and Youth, are currently engaging with the Department of public expenditure and reform with respect to NDP allocations for the period 2026-2030. It is expected there will be clarity on these allocations over the course of the summer period and this will allow the Department of Education and Youth to plan its capital investment programme for the 2026-2030 period, in line with prioritised needs and reflecting, as appropriate, wider Government priorities.

Maximising existing capacity in schools to meet needs is very important, as the Deputy has alluded to in the case of at least one school in her area. The Department of Education and Youth is continually planning for and investing in existing and new schools to ensure every child in the State has access to a school place. With regard to the Wicklow school planning area, there are a number of active projects at primary level which increase that capacity. These include extension projects for Pádraig Naofa National School, Scoil na Coróine Mhuire and Wicklow Educate Together National School, which will provide both mainstream and special educational needs classes.

The Deputy has made a very clear request for a departmental official to be sent to meet with those principals. Unfortunately, I am not in a position to guarantee that as I am not a line Minister in the Department but I have no hesitation in passing on that request to the Minister. I am aware that two of the Deputy's constituency colleagues from my party have engaged with and have visited these schools in the past few weeks, including the one with my big brother. I do not need to name names in the House, but the Deputy knows where I am going. This is something we can all get behind in terms of simply looking after the primary school needs of Wicklow town and Rathnew.

In the previous Dáil, we debated school places for second level in north Wicklow at length, and also in Newtownmountkennedy. As the Deputy knows, our constituencies are very alike. This is an issue happening in Dublin Rathdown, just as it is in Wicklow and Wicklow-Wexford. Whatever I can do to assist that process beyond party political lines, I am more than happy to do it.

Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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I thank the Minister of State. That is very welcome and I think there is a solution here. Hopefully, if he talks to the Minister - I have mentioned it to her myself - we can get someone to visit.

In my remaining time, I want to put something else in the education area on the record. We are seeing major issues with the NCSC and a sort of stoppage of processes. I think it is moving to a new process or a new scheme or system. What seems to have happened is that anything that was under consideration has been stalled and principals are now being told it will come back to them in the next school year. That means those schools are not ready for September. They do not have the places and they do not have the SNA supports.

I refer in particular to two special schools - Marino Community Special School and New Court School, both of which have major difficulties with SNA supports. Indeed, Marino's review was cancelled two days before it was due to happen. There are also other schools in the area where there are difficulties. There were two SNAs in Scoil na Coróine Mhuire and one of them has been cancelled. That school is in dire straits. It was appealing that but the appeal process was stopped. Hopefully, it is moving again but it absolutely needs that SNA support. Dominican College in Wicklow had received permission to open an ASD classroom this year but that was cancelled. That is another issue. Gaelscoil Uí Chéadaigh in Bray does not have an SNA issue but it has a staffing one. It has lost a teaching post which means that one of its classes will be 39 pupils in size, which is in no way acceptable for any school.

I wanted to put those points on the record but I have a long list of schools that have difficulties and problems. For whatever reason, the system and process are not reactive to their needs. It is not meeting them where they need to be met. It is like the whole process and everything has stopped or slowed down. Those schools need to be ready to go in September. They will have to have the staffing they need, whether it is teaching posts or SNA supports. It is something that has to be looked at and if the Minister of State could pass that on, I would be very grateful.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for using the time available to highlight a really important issue. Being married to a special education teacher, I hear about this quite regularly, as the Deputy can imagine. For anyone who thinks politicians are going on holidays in two weeks' time, I can assure them not only are we not but our school leaders and teachers certainly are not on holidays at the moment. This is perhaps the busiest and most stressful time, particularly for school principals, which Deputy Dolan alluded to in his intervention. Two weeks ago, I took a similar Topical Issue tabled by Deputy Malcolm Byrne.

The original part of this Topical Issue was on the need for national school places in Wicklow town and Rathnew. The point has been made that the Department uses data from a range of sources, including child benefit data, enrolments and information on new residential developments, to plan for school place needs. This is one of the key issues. It is one of the biggest opportunities we have as elected representatives. We are not a data sheet. We are on the ground. Every single one of us is either in the schools as a parent or guardian or just visiting to give talks. We engage with our school communities on so many different issues. It is our responsibility, as elected officials from all parties and none, to be those eyes and ears on the ground. When there are issues with delays of allocation of resources, particularly for pupils who need special education services, that gives us an even greater responsibility.

With regard to the issues the Deputy raised in her second intervention, I will bring them to the attention of the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan. On the provision of school places in Wicklow town and Rathnew, I know there is ongoing consultation. It has started. It is easy to say there are adequate places for a wide geographic area and that it comes down to choice, based either on ethos or family. Crucially, there could be a critical mass of numbers that perhaps is not being captured. This is a really worthy debate that impacts every constituency but particularly commuter belt constituencies like ours and like most of the Members in the Chamber.