Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising the matter as it provides me with the opportunity to give some clarity on the current position relating to post-primary school provision in Clonakilty, County Cork.

For school planning purposes, the Department of Education divides the country into 314 school planning areas and utilises a geographical information system to anticipate school place demand. 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. Projections of post-primary school place requirements are informed by multiple factors, including primary school enrolments in the area and primary to post-primary transfer patterns.

The Department's projections of post-primary school place requirements in Clonakilty area show some continued growth in overall enrolments in the short to medium term. However, despite projected overall growth, first year place requirements are anticipated to remain generally stable.

While the Department is aware of increasing pressures and demand for additional school places in Clonakilty, it is important to note that where enrolment pressures arise, it may be driven by the following factors: duplication of applications where pupils have applied for a place to a number of schools in the area; school of choice where pupils cannot get a place in their preferred school while there are places in other schools in the town or area; some towns or areas have single-sex schools and while places are available in the school they are not available to all pupils; and external draw, that is, pupils coming from outside the local area.

The Department is working to establish the true extent of any capacity issues across school planning areas through ongoing discussions with the relevant school patrons and authorities. This close engagement will allow the Department to identify at an early stage particular capacity requirements for the forthcoming years which may necessitate further action to that already in train, including, where required, the provision of modular accommodation solutions.

There are two post-primary schools in the Clonakilty school planning area. Sacred Heart Secondary School is an all-girls school under the patronage of CEIST. That school had an enrolment of 534 pupils for the 2021-2022 school year. Clonakilty Community College is a mixed school under the patronage of Cork Education and Training Board. It had an enrolment of 643 for the 2021-2022 school year. With regard to meeting the current and future accommodation needs of the Clonakilty planning area, both schools were approved for projects on the Department’s capital programme.

Sacred Heart Secondary School currently has a project under way which will provide accommodation for 600 pupils at the school, along with three classrooms for students with special educational needs. This project is currently at stage one. Clonakilty Community College recently completed a project which provided for a total enrolment capacity of 650 pupils and two classrooms for students with special education needs.

The requirement for additional school places is kept under ongoing review. Additionally, the Department will continue to liaise with the local authority in respect of its review of development plans with a view to identifying any potential long-term school accommodation requirements.

I assure the Senator that the Department will continue to work with schools and patrons to ensure there is appropriate provision for all students in Clonakilty for the 2023-2024 school year.