John McGahon (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting this Commencement matter. He selected it before Christmas but I got my days mixed up. I apologise to him for that.

The Haynestown and Blackrock area, just south of Dundalk, is one of the fastest growing areas in County Louth in respect of population. Some 1,650 planning applications have been submitted for housing and more than 500 houses have been built in the area in the past three years. In Blackrock, which is beside Haynestown, the two primary schools are completely full, as is the primary school in Haggardstown. The reason I am raising this Commencement matter is to acknowledge the huge increase in the population of the area, which will only continue to grow as it is one of the most popular places to live in County Louth. We must plan appropriately for education in the area.

The Louth and Meath Education and Training Board, ETB, has identified a suitable site for a primary school in the Haynestown area. It has also obtained a valuation for the site which provides good value for money and has submitted a request to the Department of Education in that regard. It is important that the Department makes the identification of a suitable school location a priority. It is about planning ahead. We have seen substantial housing development in the area, one of the fastest growing parts in County Louth. Louth County Council is doing a wonderful job in that regard.

I am raising this issue today because, rather than me telling the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, why it needs to be addressed, I want to hear her views in order to determine how we can move forward with this important issue.

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for raising the matter as it provides me with the opportunity to clarify the current position on the provision of additional primary school places in Dundalk, County Louth.

As mentioned by the Senator, in order to plan for school provision and to analyse the relevant demographic data, my Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas. It uses a geographical information system, GIS, which uses data from a range of sources, including child benefit data from the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection and the Department of Education's school enrolment databases, to identify where the pressure for school places will arise across the country, as alluded to by the Senator. I note what he has said about the fast-growing demographic in Dundalk. The Department has strengthened this process this year through specific initiatives such as enhanced engagement with local authorities in respect of the information on residential development incorporated into the analysis process. There has also been additional engagement with patron bodies in relation to their local knowledge on school place requirements. ETBs, Diocesan offices and national patron bodies, such as Educate Together, An Foras Pátrúnachta, which looks at Gaelscoileanna, can also be an important source of local knowledge. This will add to information also provided to the Department by local authorities or individual schools. The Department has also utilised the information gleaned from schools under the national inventory of school capacity completed by individual schools last year as part of the primary online database.

In a regular year, addressing the increase demands for school places, while challenging, is manageable - generally through utilisation of existing spare capacity within schools, rental, temporary accommodation or other short-term measures pending the delivery of permanent accommodation. The Dundalk primary school planning area is made up of 29 primary schools. In relation to the provision of additional primary school places for Dundalk, my Department has recently approved the expansion of St. Francis National School, Blackrock to a two-stream, 16-classroom school. The project approved will provide an additional eight permanent classrooms and includes a two-classroom special education needs base.As Minister of State with responsibility for special education I am particularly pleased about that. A design team has been appointed for the project and it is currently at an early architectural planning stage. The project has been devolved to the Louth and Meath Education and Training Board, ETB, for delivery. Pending the completion of this project and in order to meet the accommodation needs of St. Francis National School, my Department has improved the temporary accommodation of two mainstream classrooms for the current school year, as well as a further mainstream classroom and one special education needs classroom for the 2021-2022 school year. It is envisaged this accommodation will be in place for the start of the next school year. This additionality is expected to cater for the future needs of the Dundalk area. My Department understands there is further capacity with existing primary schools in the school planning area.

I wish to advise the Senator that updates on all building projects are provided on my Department's website and that this is updated regularly. I thank the Senator for his particular interest in this area and I hope I have outlined to him in a satisfactory way the position on primary school provision in Dundalk.

John McGahon (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for her comprehensive reply. It is very much appreciated. I would like to make two points about it. It may be too late for this debate but we need to treat the Haynestown and Blackrock area separately from the Dundalk planning area, which is utilised by the Department. Dundalk is a town of approximately 40,0000 people. The Blackrock-Haynestown area, which started off as small villages on the outskirts of Dundalk, needs to be treated as two distinct areas. The needs in that area are completely different from the education needs in north Dundalk. The Department has a difficulty encompassing Blackrock-Haynestown in the wider Dundalk area and they should be treated separately.

I welcome the points the Minister of State has made about St. Francis National School in Blackrock. However, the area I am talking about is a distinct area. It is the Haynestown-Haggardstown area. That is where the majority of housing is going to be built over the next couple years. That is where we need to look to when providing a new primary school and that is what the Louth and Meath ETB is trying to do. It is welcomed in Blackrock but it is a totally separate issue. We need to cater for the children in the Haynestown-Blackrock area and that is why I raise this matter today.

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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The building and planning unit within the Department has its own way of dealing with and forecasting future school places and schools. I mentioned the 314 school planning areas earlier on. However, I will bring what the Senator said today to the attention of the Minister for Education whose remit is over the building and planning of schools. There are 29 primary schools in existence in the Dundalk primary school planning area. That is not to say that there is not a case to be made for Haynestown and Blackrock. It may be worth the Senator's while to put in a submission in writing to the Department other than just tabling a Commencement matter. This could perhaps set out the reasons he has articulated, particularly if there are 40,000 additional people and an increasing demographic, which he has alluded to. It may be worthwhile putting something in writing to the Department.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for explaining the situation prior to Christmas. I know she was double booked on that day and had a constituency issue to deal with.