Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, who has responsibility for special education and inclusion. There is little to no capacity available for national school places in Ballinasloe town. What is the strategy from the Department of Education for school places for children in Ballinasloe now and for the next five years? What happens when home tuition grants have to be put in place? There is the cost of that alone, but there is also an issue with the lack of teachers or school tutors to perform this role.

Since I was elected a councillor for the Ballinasloe municipal district area in 2019, I have raised issues related to school capacity in the town with the Minister of State, who has been very helpful in some regards, and the Department. Ballinasloe is a growing town, which is fantastic for the east Galway and south Roscommon area, yet children are left without a school place. Families in the town are panicking and trying to book school places three or four years in advance.

The 2022 census showed that 7,361 people live in the Ballinasloe urban area. We have 554 children from newborn to the age of four in the town. Galway County Council, through its housing section, plans to allocate more than 120 units in 2023 and 2024. We can already see 70 stunning new high-spec homes close to the Tesco store, made up of three- and four-bedroom units. These are to be allocated and will be much-needed homes for families in the Ballinasloe area, in particular those in receipt of the housing assistance payment, HAP. This will open up rental property in the town. We are in dire need of it.

Given the increase in housing, it is fair to say we will have approximately another 100 children of schoolgoing age within six months in the Ballinasloe town area. Where are these children to go? I have spoken with principals and teachers in the area who are fearful of pressures in the time ahead. I have spoken with the educational welfare officer for the Ballinasloe area and the manager for the Galway-Roscommon-Mayo area. They have highlighted the real strain in Ballinasloe town. Parents are stressed. They are trying to book years in advance and trying to keep siblings together.

We have three national schools in the town. All the principals have come together in their own way. They have agreed to start enrolment on the same day next year. They have been doing this for the past few years to manage the pressure. The Minister of State will be familiar with St. Teresa's Special School in Ballinasloe town. It takes in children and young people with severe and complex needs. It is likely that we will have between 120 and 150 children starting mainstream junior infant classes in the Ballinasloe town area in September 2024. I honestly do not know where those children are going to go. Scoil An Chroí Naofa is a DEIS level 1 school with 288 pupils. I have worked closely with the school and the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, the Minister, Deputy Foley, the board of management and the principal, Ms Connor. We are delighted the decision to approve planning has been made. It was promised 27 years ago when the school amalgamated but now we have a decision for a new design for this school. It will have 300 students and 16 classrooms but there are planning conditions. I ask the Minister of State for her support to move this project forward so that the design team will work with the school to meet the planning conditions. Even so, the school will take three years to build if we get the green light for everything and priority for the budget in a streamlined way. I am talking about what will happen now and for the next three to five years.

Creagh National School, our second national school, has 440 pupils. I have worked with the principal, Ms Ní Cholleráin Bleahene and the board of management, as well as the special educational needs organiser. With the Minister of State's support, for which I am grateful, two additional classrooms will shortly open in the school. I will be very pleased to welcome her to Ballinasloe in November to visit this school, which is also at capacity. There is a waiting list of 24 pupils and two new classes. We are in dire need. I would appreciate the Minister of State's support on this.

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Dolan for her contribution on such an important area as school places. The Commencement matter relates to mainstream places but I might mention special classes and special school places as well. The former come under the remit of the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, as opposed to me but I am happy to provide this response.

In regard to home tuition, which was mentioned in the matter raised, the Department operates three categories of home tuition: special educational needs on medical grounds; reasons other than special educational needs on medical grounds; and maternity-related absences. The purpose of the grant scheme is to provide funding towards the provision of a compensatory educational service for children who, for a number of specific reasons, are unable to attend school. Home tuition is not an alternative to a school placement and is provided in very limited and specific circumstances. By its nature, it is intended to be a short-term intervention. I understand that in Ballinasloe one home tuition was sanctioned where there was no school place.

The no school place scheme, which falls into the category of home tuition for reasons other than special educational needs on medical grounds, is available where a child is temporarily without a school place and is actively seeking a school placement or may be taking an appeal under section 29 of the Education Act following expulsion. Those who qualify for this grant scheme can employ a tutor to provide nine hours home tuition per week. This scheme is operated with the assistance of the educational welfare services of the Child and Family Agency. Application forms for this grant scheme are available from the educational welfare officer. Some 174 students received home tuition under the no school place scheme during the 2022-23 school year across the country. As I indicated, there was one place in Ballinasloe.

In general terms, in regard to school planning purposes, which is a concern of Senator Dolan, as it has been in the past in relation to special education also, forward planning is critical. That is the approach the Department takes on a daily basis. While at times it may seem that there is a panic about where children will find places, that is obviously something the Department looks at, not just for next year but for the following five years, as Senator Dolan mentioned. The Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and utilises a geographical information system to anticipate school place demand. It gets the information from a range of sources, including child benefit data, school enrolment data and information on residential development activity, which is used for this purpose.

Project Ireland 2040 population and housing targets are also used. Projections for post-primary school place requirements are informed by multiple factors, including primary school enrolments in the area and primary to post-primary transfer patterns. Major new residential developments in a school planning area have the potential to alter demand in that area. In that regard, as part of the demographic exercises, my Department engages with each of the local authorities to obtain the up-to-date information on significant new residential development in each area. This is necessary to ensure that schools' infrastructure planning is keeping pace with demographic changes as there is a constantly evolving picture with planned new residential development. Where demographic data indicate that additional provision is required, the delivery of this provision is dependent on the particular circumstances of each case and may be provided, for example, through existing unused capacity within a school or schools, by extending the capacity of a school or schools or through the provision of a new school.

Ballinasloe town is in the Ballinasloe school planning area. There are 17 primary schools in the school planning area, one of which, as the Senator is aware, is a special school – St. Teresa's, which I visited. My Department's projections indicate some continued growth in primary school place requirements across the school planning area out to 2040.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State very much. The time provided is quite tight to cover all of the information.

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I am not finished.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I know. The Minister of State will have more time.

Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael)
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Eglish National School is trying to get a bus to bring 23 children to school. It co-ordinated and got letters from principals from the surrounding schools, so it is not just Ballinasloe urban area and the three primary schools there. Scoil Náisiúnta Naomh Treasa in Killure, County Galway, St. Catherine's National School in Aughrim, County Galway, Newtown National School in Creagh, County Roscommon, St. Augustine's National School in Clontuskert, County Galway, and St. Ciaran's National School in Moore, County Roscommon, cannot take those children in. These schools are oversubscribed and have indicated that to the Department of Education.

Fifteen of the 23 children in Eglish National School are from a Traveller background. I spoke this morning with the refugee resettlement support worker in Galway County Council who is trying to bring two refugee families into Ballinasloe.In one family, the father has a job but the mother cannot drive. I am at a loss. She cannot get a place for those children in Ballinasloe town. That is as of this morning. I know we are speaking here about a five year plan. I am aware it is not the Minister of State’s area but I do not see this plan and I am asking for her support. We need a high-level meeting between the principals of these schools, the education welfare officers who are now within Tusla and with the Ministers and senior officials within the Department of Education. There needs to be a plan for schools in a 10 km radius as well as in the town of Ballinasloe and that is not there at the moment.

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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The Department has asked me to make the Senators aware of the reasons there are sometimes enrolment pressures in Ballinasloe. It is important to note that sometimes when these enrolment pressures arise, it may not be as a result of the lack of accommodation. The bus is a separate matter and I will certainly bring that particular case back to the attention of the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley. One of the factors could be the duplication of applications, namely, where pupils have applied for a place to a number of schools in the area. It also could be because pupils cannot get a place in their preferred school of choice while there are other places in other schools in the town or the area. Another factor could be because some towns or areas have single sex schools and, while places are available in the school, they are not available to all pupils. Then there is also the external draw of pupils coming from outside the local area. Notwithstanding this, the Department will continue to keep the school-place-needs in Ballinasloe under close review. There are ongoing discussions with relevant school patrons and authorities which form part of the Department's assessment of school place requirements. That close engagement is absolutely critical for future planning, as the Senator has said. It is critical for planning now, but also into the future so that there is no child left without a place, whether that is a child with special needs or who is going into mainstream schools.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I greatly appreciate the Minister of State coming to the House today and for giving us her time. I know she has a busy schedule. I thank her for seeing through the four Commencement matters; it is appreciated.

I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Fleming. It is great to see him back.