John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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703. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of children who were unsuccessful in securing a junior infant place in a school (details supplied) in County Dublin for the year 2016-2017; the number of these children who were in category 1, Catholics in the immediate catchment area; the number in category 2, non-Catholics in the immediate catchment area; the actions she is taking to increase primary school capacity given the number of children who failed to secure a local school place and the future housing developments in the area; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5981/16]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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My Department's main responsibility is to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking school places in the area. It is the responsibility of the managerial authorities of all schools to implement an enrolment policy in accordance with the Education Act, 1998. The enrolment policy must be non-discriminatory and must be applied fairly in respect of all applicants. Parents can choose which school to apply to and where the school has places available the pupil should be admitted. However, in schools where there are more applicants than places available a selection process may be necessary and this may result in some pupils not obtaining a place in the school of their first choice. There is no requirement on schools to report to my Department on such arrangements. The Educational Welfare Service of the Child and Family Agency (EWS) is the statutory agency which can assist parents who are experiencing difficulty in securing a school place for their child. The EWS can be contacted at 01-7718500.

My Department uses a Geographical Information System to identify the areas under increased demographic pressure nationwide. The system uses data from the Central Statistics Office, Ordnance Survey Ireland, the Department of Social Protection and information from the Department's own databases. With this information, my Department carries out nationwide demographic exercises to determine where additional school accommodation is needed at primary and at post-primary level. The outcome of the latest demographic exercises was that in November 2015, I announced that 4 new primary schools and 9 new post-primary schools will open in 2017 and 2018 to cater for increased demographic needs. A range of areas nationwide are experiencing increased demographic pressure and these will be kept under ongoing review by my Department.

In relation to the school referenced in the details supplied I can advise that a building project to provide for a 24 classroom primary school is currently under construction and is expected to be ready for occupation in May 2016.