Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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125. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to provide the figures identified by his Department's geographic information system that demonstrate that a new secondary school was required in the Castleknock and Carpenterstown area in Dublin 15. [18214/16]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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126. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to provide the figures identified by his Department's geographic information system that demonstrate that a new secondary school is not currently needed in the Ongar and Littlepace area in Dublin 15. [18215/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions No. 125 and 126 together.

In identifying the requirement for additional school places in a school planning area, my Department uses a Geographical Information System to identify the areas under increased demographic pressure nationwide. The GIS uses data from the Central Statistics Office, Ordnance Survey Ireland, the Department of Social Protection and 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 post-primary level.

Following the 2015 demographic exercises, four new primary schools and nine new post-primary schools were announced to open in 2017 and 2018 to cater for increased demographic needs in these areas. This includes a new post-primary school which will open in 2017 to serve the Carpenterstown and Castleknock school planning areas in Dublin 15, which will provide an additional 1,000 post-primary pupil places, supplementing provision in these areas.

For school planning purposes, the areas of Ongar and Littlepace fall within the Blanchardstown West school planning area.

A new post-primary school, Hansfield Educate Together Secondary School, opened in 2014 to supplement provision from the existing post-primary school, Phibblestown Community School. My Department is satisfied that these two post-primary schools located within this school planning area can between them cater for the demand for post-primary places in the area.

As with other school planning areas nationwide, the demographic data for the areas outlined by the Deputy are being kept under ongoing review by my Department to take account of updated enrolment data and capacity increases in these, and adjoining, school planning areas.