Bobby Aylward (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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59. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the steps he will take to assist a school (details supplied) in the process of ensuring that its two student bodies can be housed together on one school campus site following amalgamation in June 2016 in order to address the managerial difficulties and potential health and safety risks of operating on two different sites at opposite ends of the respective village. [22466/18]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy may be aware, the co-educational school in question emerged from the amalgamation of a boys' and girls' school in September 2016 following a request from the Patron. When the application to amalgamate was made to my Department, it was clarified to the schools that it was not possible to construct a new school building to facilitate the amalgamation. It was explained that my Department's immediate priority is to provide essential classroom accommodation in areas where significant demographic need has been established to ensure that each child will have access to a physical school place. The area where the school is located has not been identified as an area of demographic growth. The Boards of Management of both schools accepted that the amalgamated school will continue to operate from the sites of the existing schools.

As the Deputy will be aware, I recently announced plans for the establishment of 42 new schools over the next 4 years (2019 to 2022). This announcement follows nationwide, demographic exercises carried out by my Department into the future need for primary and post-primary schools across the country.

In the circumstances, my Department is not in a position, at this time, to provide a new school building for the school in question.