Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Joe O'Brien, to the Seanad Chamber.

Tim Lombard (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State. It is great to have him in the Chamber to discuss Clonakilty and the need for secondary school places to be provided for the academic year of 2023-2024. Clonakility is a thriving town with a thriving hinterland which feeds into the educational hub that is Clonakilty. We have two dynamic secondary schools. Both the college and the convent provide top class subject choice across a wide range of topics. There has been a major redevelopment of the college campus under the stewardship of Paddy Duggan, the former principal. Now Tommy Brown is there and is doing a fantastic job in driving the complex forward. There is a significant proposal which would see a multimillion redevelopment of the convent site.

That is in the future but there is considerable concern in the town about academic places for 2023-2024. On 15 December, the students who have applied to the college will be informed whether they are successful or not. A waiting list will be put forward then. We are not sure how long that list is or what is the capability for the list to fit the capacity of the students looking to go to the college. There is a unique dynamic in the town regarding the need to make sure boys can get education. Traditionally, the boys went to the college and the girls to the convent. We are unsure how that dynamic will play out. Maybe the Minister of State will elaborate on that.

We had a similar situation in Bandon several years ago and it took some time for us to sort the issue. It took a long-term change in ethos in the school and massive development in two of the four complexes in Bandon. Clarity on school places from here to 2023 is needed in the next few weeks. There is concern in Clonakilty about whether the offering will be there for the students. I ask for clarity on the length of the waiting list and on the plans the Department will put in place to make sure every student who applies to go to a school in Clonakilty will have a place made available to them.

This adds to the bizarre scenario of the school transport scheme, which will open in a few weeks. Kids do not know what school they will go to, never mind how to apply for that scheme. We have seen the debacle whereby children in west Cork have failed to get a school bus yet, and we are running into Christmas.

Time is the most important thing in this debate. We need clarity on numbers and on the long-term approach for parents and students to be able to move forward and get their school place for the next academic year.

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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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.

Tim Lombard (Fine Gael)
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The Minister of State highlighted a particular problem. Children have applied to Clonakilty Community College and been told they will find out on 15 December whether they have a place. They have been further informed that, after that date, there will be a waiting list. Most of the children affected are boys. The difficulty is that there is no other secondary school in the town for them. This is a significant issue for the many parents who have contacted my office in the past ten days. We have a scenario in Clonakilty that is mirrored in many other towns. The real issue is that, as the school website, parents and students are telling me, a waiting list will be put in place on 15 December for boys who want to go to school in Clonakilty Community College. They have no other offer and cannot go to any other school.

I am a little concerned by the Department's approach to this. I realise that it is not the Minister of State's Department. There does not seem to be a figure for how many are on the waiting list and what the follow-up plan is to ensure these children, particularly the boys, have an option. At the moment, the boys have no other option for a place in Clonakilty. They must either go to another town, whether it is Bandon, where the schools are full, Dunmanway, Skibbereen or Rosscarbery. The Department must take a proactive approach to this problem. Will the Minister of State come back with the figures? We need to know how many children are on the waiting list. Until we know that, we will not know the extent of the problem.

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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I accept the Senator's point that many people do not have clarity as to their standing at this time. It is very hard to give clarity until the 15 December deadline has passed. I expect the schools have some of the information he has requested. I will feed back to the Minister that we need to get that information from the schools and give clarity to people as soon as possible. I am hopeful the fog will lift after 15 December for the students waiting for an allocation of places. I will report back to the Minister with the specific information the Senator outlined.