Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this matter and I will respond on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills. I welcome the opportunity to set out the position on the Minister's behalf with regard to the Department's review of the post-primary school places that will be required from 2017 onwards.

Due to unprecedented demographic growth, 27 new primary schools and 26 new post-primary schools will be established, or will be in the process of being established, between the years 2011 and 2016. The purpose of each of these schools is to meet a specific demographic need within a defined geographic area, that is, to ensure that every child and young person living in a particular area can have access to a physical school place within that area.

The Department uses a geographical information system, GIS, to identify where the pressure for school places will arise. The GIS uses data from the Central Statistics Office, Ordnance Survey Ireland and the Department of Social Protection in addition to the Department’s own databases. It also uses data from the local authorities. With this information the Department carries out nationwide demographic exercises at primary and post-primary level to determine where additional school accommodation is needed.

The Department is in the process of concluding a report on the outcome of an exercise to determine where additional post-primary school accommodation will be needed from 2017 onwards. The demographic exercise encompassed all areas of the country, including Newbridge and Kildare. The Minister will shortly announce the details of the new post-primary schools to be provided nationwide arising from this exercise.Arrangements will also be made to provide additional post-primary accommodation to existing schools where the demographic demand warrants this.

Where new schools are to be established, the Department runs an open patronage determination process to decide who will operate the schools. It is open to all patrons and prospective patrons to apply under this process.

More than €2.2 billion in funding is being invested by my Department under its five year school capital investment plan 2012-2016. In excess of €1.5 billion of this is being allocated for the funding of major school building projects. The balance is being used for the additional accommodation scheme, the prefab replacement initiative, the emergency works scheme and the acquisition of sites. Full details of all projects both planned and ongoing are published on the Department’s website.

Earlier this year the Minister announced that seven new primary schools will be established in the next two years to meet demographic needs in different areas of the country. Nine new post-primary schools will open over the same period. This includes a new 1,000 pupil post-primary school, Celbridge community school, which opened in interim accommodation this September 2015. A new 1,000 pupil post-primary school, Maynooth community college, opened in 2014. Both of these projects are on the five-year plan, as is a replacement school building for the existing Maynooth post-primary school. Planning is also under way on the next five-year school capital investment plan.