Emer Currie (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. More than 40 families living in the Carpenterstown area of Dublin 15, including some with older siblings already at St Patrick's National School in Diswellstown, found out last week that their children will not be starting in the school in September 2021. Many of the disappointed families live very close by and obviously have not been offered a place because it is oversubscribed. I have two children aged six and eight. If I were told that my younger child could not go to school with their older sibling, I would be devastated.

This is as a result of the new admissions policy the archdiocese imposed on the school where the date of birth must be taken into consideration for children with siblings already in the school and children living in the parish.This has resulted in the school only being in a position to offer places to children born on or before 18 November 2016, which is really early. This leaves a number of children who have siblings already in the school and who will be nearly five in September 2021 without a place in the school. In fact, they do not have a place in any primary school because their parents believed they would be prioritised as the family is already part of the school community. In addition, these children are not eligible for a third year of the early childhood care and education, ECCE, scheme, so they are in a very difficult position. Does the Department have a plan as to where these children will go in September 2021? The school's sister school, St. Mochta's National School in Clonsilla, is also oversubscribed.

Two new estates were built in the area in recent years. Out of a total of 120 available spaces, 50 were taken by children from these new estates. Was this development monitored by the Department, perhaps through child benefit or ECCE grants paid? There will be more development in this area. The school was built as a three-stream school but, in the last three years, it has taken four despite a chronic lack of space. This time last year, the Department and the school came to an agreement that the school would allow for four streams on the condition that the Department would purchase the neighbouring field and expand the school. There has been no progress on this to date. In fact, the people who own the field have said that, since there has not been any progress, the licence the school has to use it for play space might be revoked. The purchase of the field is now extremely urgent. It would be great to get an update in that regard.

Capacity is not the only issue facing the school. It has also experienced serious pyrite issues since opening. Fixing this issue is an ongoing process which is resulting in hefty costs for both the Department and the school itself in terms of the time and effort involved and the constant health and safety checks. The school also tells me that an average of two children in every class have complex needs. The pupil-teacher ratio is 28:1 but the school is taking in more pupils as a result of the capacity issues in the area, for which it does not have the resources.

Despite the pyrite issue, the health and safety works, the expansion issues, the admissions challenges and space restrictions, it is a wonderful school to which people want their kids to go. It is a fantastic school in the community. Can we please get an update on the field? It is urgent. The Department had committed to the expansion of the school. Is that even enough now to deal with the number of kids who need school places? I also highlight the school's need for support within the new special education model.