Noel Rock (Dublin North West, Fine Gael)
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407. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if, in view of recent census data, the decision to refuse a new primary level non-denominational Gaelscoil for the north side of Dublin will be reviewed urgently. [24801/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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Since 2011 new schools are generally only established in areas of demographic growth. 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 my own Department's databases. With this information, nationwide demographic analyses are carried out to determine where additional school accommodation is needed at primary and post-primary levels.

When it is decided that a new school is required to meet demographic needs in an area, the Department runs a separate patronage process to decide who will operate the school. It is open to all patrons and prospective patrons to apply for patronage of the school under this process and the level of parental preference for each patron, along with the extent of diversity in the area, are key to decisions in relation to the outcome of the process.

This process was followed in relation to the decision on the patronage of the new school which opened in September 2016 to serve the Drumcondra/Marino/Dublin 1 area. My Department assessed the applications received from the prospective patrons, including examining the parental preferences received in the applications to ensure they represented children living within the school planning area which the school is set up to serve. My Department prepared an assessment report for the consideration of the New Schools Establishment Group (NSEG) which then submitted a report with recommendations to me for consideration and final decision.

The patronage assessment report which is published on my Department's website, while indicating substantial support for an Irish medium school, reflects nearly twice as many valid preferences for an Educate Together school in this area as for a Gaelscoil. I accepted the recommendation of the NSEG and the school under the patronage of Educate Together opened in September.

While there are three Gaelscoileanna already operating in the area, the NSEG, in their report to me, noted the strong level of demand from parents for Irish-medium education in the area and recommended that this should be kept under review in the context of future demographic exercises. My Department is continuing to keep the demographic data for the Drumcondra/Marino/Dublin 1 school planning area under ongoing review to take into account updated enrolment and child benefit data and the impact of ongoing and planned capacity increases in this and adjacent school planning areas.