Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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231. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the progress in the advancement of a Gaelcholáiste in north County Kildare, with particular reference to the need to meet the second level requirements of the students emerging from schools (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26897/19]

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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In relation to the planned new Gaelcholáiste to which the Deputy refers, my Department has recently received correspondence from the school patron, Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board, which sets out that for operational reasons the ETB has decided it is in the best interest of the school communities in the Maynooth and surrounding areas to defer the opening of this new school from September 2019 to September 2020.

The Gaelcholáiste will be located on the current Maynooth Post Primary School/Maynooth Community College grounds which will be coming available as these schools move to the Maynooth Education Campus.

The ETB has indicated that a high number of expressions of interest for September 2020 have already been received and that enrolment will commence in Autumn 2019 for September 2020.

As the Deputy will be aware, Maynooth Community College opened in 2014 with an Irish-medium Aonad. It is open to students to apply to the Aonad at Maynooth Community College in the 2019/20 school year, ahead of the opening of the Gaelcholáiste in 2020.