James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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105. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide an analysis of the demand for secondary school places in Wexford town and the capacity to provide same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7928/16]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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106. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide an analysis of the demand for secondary school places in Gorey, County Wexford, and the capacity to provide same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7929/16]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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107. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide an analysis of the demand for secondary school places in County Wexford and the capacity to provide same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7930/16]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 105 to 107, inclusive, together.

My Department uses a Geographical Information System (GIS) to identify where the pressure for school places across the country will arise. The GIS uses data from the Central Statistics Office, Ordnance Survey Ireland, the Department of Social Protection and local authorities in addition to the Department's own school enrolment databases. With this information, my Department carries out nationwide demographic exercises at primary and post primary level to determine where additional school accommodation is needed.

The outcome of the latest demographic exercises was that in November 2015, I announced the establishment of 13 new schools to open nationwide in 2017 and 2018.

The school planning areas in Co. Wexford are experiencing demographic growth, however, not to such an extent that would currently warrant new school provision. These areas are being kept under ongoing review by my Department to take account of updated enrolment data and also the impact of existing and planned capacity increases to existing schools in each of the school planning areas.

There are 22 post-primary schools in the nine school planning areas in Co Wexford. The majority of the school planning areas are projected to increase in enrolment numbers, although the total enrolment numbers are marginally less than projected based on the provisional 2015/16 enrolment data. Overall, enrolments are projected to increase by circa 2,900 between the 22 schools, to peak in 2024/25, before beginning to reduce. The intake patterns to the schools show that a significant proportion of students are not attending the post-primary school in their area but rather travelling out of the smaller school planning areas into the Wexford town and Enniscorthy areas to attend post-primary school.

In relation to the Wexford town school planning area, my Department analysed the pre-enrolment lists of students seeking places in First Year in September 2016 from the 12 post-primary schools in the Wexford town and four adjacent school planning areas of Enniscorthy, Adamstown, Kilmuckridge and Bridgetown. This analysis showed that there was a large amount of duplication of applications with students applying to a number of schools in these areas and the intake patterns showed that a significant proportion of students who live outside the Wexford town school planning area have applied to attend schools in the Wexford town area.

Based on the provisional 2015/16 post-primary enrolment figures in the Wexford town schools, actual enrolments are broadly in line with the projected enrolments based on the demographic data. In the five post-primary schools in the Wexford town school planning area, total enrolments are projected to grow over the next six year, peaking in 2021/22, after which enrolment numbers are projected to drop back to below current levels.

Based on the provisional 2015/16 post-primary enrolments in Gorey, these are marginally higher than projected. There are two post-primary schools serving the Gorey school planning area. Enrolments are expected to grow peaking in 2024-2025, after which enrolment numbers are expected to decrease.

As part of my Department's School Capital Investment Programme, a number of building projects in Wexford schools are being progressed, including Loreto Secondary School and Wexford C.B.S, which will provide for increased capacity in the area. The increase in accommodation planned for the Wexford area should be adequate to cater for the projected increase in enrolments.