Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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Question 122: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of parents who applied for a place in a Lucan primary school and who have been forced to send their children elsewhere in September 2005. [19765/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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It is important to understand that my Department's main responsibility is to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking places. This may result in parents not obtaining a place in the school of their first choice for their child.

There are ten primary schools in the Lucan area including two new state of the art multi-denominational schools and a new Gaelscoil due to commence operation in September 2005. These developments, together with a number of extensions to existing schools, the provision of temporary accommodation and the reorganisation of one school to enable the enrolment of an additional two junior infant classes, has increased capacity significantly in the area. Through a combination of these measures, the school planning section of my Department is satisfied that, between them, the schools have adequate accommodation to cater for current demand.

My Department continues to monitor school needs in the Lucan area. In this regard all schools have been requested to submit their pre-enrolment lists with the date of birth of prospective pupils so that any newly emerging needs can be addressed as expeditiously as possible.