Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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259. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the exact boundaries upon which projections for the demand for new schools in Dublin are based and the specific criteria and data within these boundaries that are used to identify whether a need exists or not; the banding or ranking system that applies to how resources are allocated, once a need is identified, to ascertain which schools get funded first; and how this process was utilised in the recent announcement of funding for schools in Dublin. [43378/15]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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For planning purposes the Department divides the country into geographic areas each with several primary schools feeding into a post-primary centre, consisting of one or more post-primary schools. These defined areas facilitate the orderly planning of school provision and accommodation needs.

My Department uses a Geographical Information System (GIS) to identify where the pressure for additional school places will arise. The GIS uses data from the Central Statistics Office, Ordnance Survey Ireland and the Department of Social Protection in addition to information from the Department's own databases. It also uses data from the local authorities. With all of this information, my Department carries out nationwide demographic exercises to determine where additional school accommodation is needed at primary and post-primary level. On 17 November last, I announced that 4 primary schools and 9 post-primary schools will open in 2017 and 2018, as a result of the outcome of the latest demographic exercises.

In the case of the 6 Year Programme, the positioning of the projects in terms of year to commence construction is informed by the anticipated progress that each project will make as it progresses through the various stages of the architectural planning process. All projects will be progressed with a view to proceeding to tender and construction stages at the earliest possible opportunity. My Department will be in communication with the schools concerned in due course in relation to the next steps to be taken.