Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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132. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans for a new secondary school in Edgeworthstown, County Longford; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14299/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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For school planning purposes, my Department divides the country into 314 geographic areas known as school planning areas which facilitates the orderly planning of school provision and accommodation needs. 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 a range of sources including my Department’s own databases. With this information, my Department carries out nationwide demographic analyses at primary and post primary level to determine where additional school accommodation is needed.

Edgeworthstown feeds into the Longford school planning area which has three post-primary schools. As with other school planning areas nationwide, the demographic data for the Longford school planning area (which includes Edgesworthtown) is being kept 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.