Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I raise concerns over the Carlow County Childcare Committee surveys on school reconfiguration for diversity being carried out on behalf of Kilkenny and Carlow Education and Training Board. This is being done through the Department of Education and Skills. I am sure the Minister of State is standing in for the Minister for Education and Skills and I know he will relay my concerns.

The Government’s plan to increase provision of multidenominational and non-denominational schools is dependent on choice. With this in mind, surveys of parents of preschool children were completed in recent months. These surveys of parents in 16 areas across the country commenced the schools reconfiguration for diversity process to fulfil a key action in the Action Plan for Education, which aims to make Ireland’s education and training service the best in Europe by 2026.

These childcare surveys should use approved methodology to identify the exact needs of the whole community by gathering information in a systematic way. However, I have been contacted by a number of my people in my area who felt they were not consulted during this survey. In fact, they felt actively excluded. Tullow with 4,673 citizens is the third largest town in the Carlow-Kilkenny constituency only surpassed by Kilkenny city with 26,512 citizens and Carlow town with 24,272 citizens. Tullow is now the 94th largest population centre in Ireland. The town and surrounding areas have nine primary schools, eight of Catholic patronage and one of Church of Ireland patronage, and one post-primary school, which provided educational facilities for the town and the surrounding hinterland.

Tullow is an important service centre in north-east Carlow and has a significant role in accommodating future population growth and economic development of the area. This role in County Carlow and its growing population urged an examination of the need for multidenominational and non-denominational school for the town to see if there was an appetite within the area for an Educate Together school.

The anonymous survey asked parents to indicate if they were happy with the current primary school provision and what type of primary school they would choose for their children. However, if a child was not attending an ECCE-approved preschool in the area, his or her parents were not asked their opinion. Parents who work outside of Tullow and place their small children in a crèche or Montessori closer to their workplace for convenience were not consulted. Public health nurses who have access to the information of all children in the target group were not consulted to balance up the numbers to ensure all parents were consulted.

In the survey, some parents, whose intention is to send their child to an Educate Together school already in another area closer their work, were asked their opinion. The numbers then do not give a true reflection of satisfaction with the currently available choice. Given that only a fraction of the population of potential primary school children had access to the survey, it indicates that the survey results cannot possibly give a true reflection of the need or desire for a multidenominational or non-denominational school for primary aged children.No parent of a child currently in the school system who did not have a younger sibling in ECCE-approved preschool was asked for his or her opinion.

We have a problem getting DEIS status in Tullow. This matter needs to be conveyed to the Minister for Education and Skills. I have fought for DEIS status to be granted to schools in Tullow for years. The people in the area have been ignored. However, that is a matter for another day. We need to ensure that we get a multidenominational or non-denominational school in the area. The Government has said that it aspires to make Ireland's education system a world leader but there is a problem in the context of how the data upon which plans are made is gathered. I would like to be informed as to the exact instructions that were given to the Carlow County Childcare Committee, which comes under the remit of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and which carried out this survey on behalf of the Department of Education and Skills. The measure was applied to 16 areas. There is great confusion in my area and I ask the Minister of State present to clarify the matter. I want people to have equal opportunities. In that context, we must ensure that everyone concerned is surveyed.