Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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222. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of Gaelscoileanna at the primary level that did not have the capacity to cater for all applicants to attend them in September 2016; the steps being taken to ensure that all those seeking primary education through the medium of Irish can access same; the criteria used in approving the recognition of new Gaelscoileana; the policy of his Department to ensure that all children here have reasonable access to an Irish-medium primary school; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3080/17]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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223. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if any national assessment was carried out on the demand for Irish-medium primary school education and the adequacy of the present Irish-medium education schools to meet this demand; if no such assessment has been carried out, his plans to carry out such an assessment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3081/17]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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224. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to devise a system of catchment areas for Gaelscoileanna to ensure that there is State-wide cover by catchment area for Irish language-medium primary schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3083/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 222 to 224, inclusive, together.

For school planning purposes, my Department plans school provision across a framework of 314 school planning areas in order to assess and meet changing demographic needs throughout the country. My Department uses a Geographical Information System (GIS) 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 my Department's own databases. With this information, my Department carries out nationwide demographic analyses to determine where additional school accommodation is needed at primary and post-primary level.

When it is decided that a new school is required to meet demographic needs in an area, my Department runs a separate patronage process to decide who will operate the school. This patronage process incorporates consideration of, and the potential for, Irish-medium provision. It is open to all patron bodies and prospective patrons, including patrons involved in Irish-medium provision and indeed any prospective patron which wishes to provide Irish-medium education, to apply for patronage of a new school under the patronage process. Parental preferences for each patron, together with the extent of diversity currently available in the area, are key to decisions in relation to the outcome of this process.

Following consideration of feedback from patrons, for the 2016 patronage process concerning the patronage of the nine new post-primary schools to open in 2017 and 2018 and the ongoing patronage process concerning the patronage of the four primary schools opening in 2017 and 2018, my Department has moved to incorporate the medium of instruction of a proposed new school as an integral part of the patronage assessment and recommendation process. In this regard, as part of the application process, prospective patrons must submit completed parental preferences and indicate their preference for their child(ren) to be educated through that patron's school model and also their preference with regard to education through the medium of English or Irish. The assessment process includes an analysis of Irish medium provision in the area and the adjacent school planning areas.

My Department will continue to make provision for Irish-medium education where it is feasible to do so.