Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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165. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to establish all-Irish language primary schools in north Kildare; his further plans to increase capacity at existing all-Irish language schools in north Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3811/17]

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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186. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he is strategically managing the demand for gaelscoileanna and gaelcoláistí places for pupils in the academic year 2017/2018; the method and/or strategy he is using in terms of enabling families to access places in the schools and areas of their choice; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4032/17]

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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190. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the way in which he will provide equality of opportunity to the pupils of north Kildare, wherein it has been demonstrated year on year that there is a demand for increased capacity in both Gaelscoilleana and gaelcoláistí; the way in which he will cater for the needs of these pupils in instances in which they are denied access to education through their chosen language of Irish; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4038/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 165, 186 and 190 together.

Three Gaelscoileanna, located in Kilcock, Leixlip and Naas, currently serve the North Kildare area at primary level.  At post-primary level, as the Deputy will be aware, Maynooth Community College opened in 2014 with an Irish-medium Aonad.  It was stated that should the Aonad demonstrate sufficient viability after four years from its date of establishment, a Gaelcholáiste would be established.   In this regard, my Department will continue to work closely with Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board and An Foras Pátrúnachta in relation to the establishment of the Gaelcholáiste.

As you will appreciate, my Department's resources are prioritised to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking school places in that area and that every child has access to a school place.  In this context, 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 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 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. In this regard, as part of the application process, prospective patrons must submit completed parental preferences for their model of patronage and also parental preference for Irish-medium or English-medium provision.

Earlier this week, I announced my plans aimed at providing more multi-denominational and non-denominational schools across the country, in line with the choices of families and school communities.  The new plans incorporate the provision of additional multi-denominational schools in either of the nation’s languages.  Accordingly, in addition to the patronage process which I have outlined above, this provides additional opportunities for increasing the number of multi-denominational, Irish-medium schools available to parents nationwide.