Ned O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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Question 154: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if extra accommodation will be allocated for a school (details supplied) in County Cork. [29178/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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For the purposes of post-primary education provision, the country is divided into catchment areas, each of which has its own post-primary education centre. The catchment boundaries were determined following consultation with local educational interests and the intention was that certain primary schools would feed exclusively into each centre. My Department provides accommodation to meet the educational needs of an area on this basis.

Turning specifically to the school referred to by the Deputy, an application for an extension has been received. A re-assessment of projected enrolments, demographic trends and housing developments in the area will be required in order to assist in determining the long-term projected enrolment on which the school's long-term accommodation needs will be based. When the long-term projected enrolment has been finalised and agreed with the school authorities, the Department will draw up schedules of accommodation for the project which will be notified to the school management authority. The required project will then be considered further in the context of the multi-annual School Building and Modernisation Programme.