Written answers

Wednesday, 22 February 2017

Department of Education and Skills

School Accommodation Provision

Photo of Clare DalyClare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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101. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 85 of 9 February 2017, the action his department will take with regard to the review of updated demographic data to tackle the shortage of school places in eight primary schools in Swords. [8887/17]

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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For school planning purposes, my Department plans school provision across some 314 school planning areas.  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.

The demographic data for the Swords school planning area is currently under review by my Department to take account of updated child benefit data and updated enrolment data and also the impact of existing and planned capacity increases in this area. 

In relation to capacity in the area, as the Deputy may be aware, there are 13 primary schools serving the Swords area, five of which have had new state-of-the-art buildings provided since 2008. Two of the primary schools are included in the current capital programme and a number of the other schools have undertaken smaller extensions via my Department’s Additional Accommodation Scheme.

My Department has recently been in direct contact with a number of primary schools in the area in respect of their junior infant capacity.  In that regard, it is understood that at least one school is undersubscribed and has expressed a willingness to enrol further junior infants in September 2017, if necessary.  As the Deputy will appreciate, it is important that school size is monitored and that a balance is preserved among all schools in school planning areas to ensure that one school is not expanding at the expense or the viability of another school.

My Department is continuing to keep developments in the area under review in the context of the ongoing demographic analysis.

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