Written answers

Tuesday, 24 May 2016

Department of Education and Skills

Education Policy

Photo of Pat DeeringPat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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180. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to invest in single sex schools or if his future emphasis is on co-educational schools; the statistics he uses to forecast the need for primary school places in Tullow, County Carlow; the relevant statistics; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11618/16]

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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Where new schools are not needed but some level of additional accommodation is required in an area to meet demographic demand, a range of factors are considered as to which school or schools should be provided with this accommodation. These factors include the level of diversity of provision in the area and the ability or otherwise of existing school sites to facilitate the extra accommodation.

My Department's focus at this time is on the need to prioritise available funding towards the provision of essential school classroom accommodation. It is open to all schools to submit an application for capital funding. My Department prioritises applications on the basis of an immediate accommodation requirement because of increased enrolments and where an additional teacher is being appointed.

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 and the Department of Social Protection together with information from my Department's school 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 the establishment of 13 new schools to open nationwide in 2017 and 2018 was announced. All school planning areas including Tullow, Co. Carlow are being kept under ongoing review by my Department to take account of updated child benefit data and enrolment data and also the impact of existing and planned capacity increases to schools in these areas.

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