Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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753. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if consideration will be given to the lack of educate together school places to serve families in the Finglas, Dublin 11 area; the steps she will take to address same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32861/20]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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In order to plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data, my Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and uses a Geographical Information System, using data from a range of sources, to identify where the pressure for school places across the country will arise. There are two school planning areas most relevant to the Deputy’s query: Scribblestown-Finglas West and Finglas East-BallymunD11.

Where data indicates that additional provision is required at primary or post primary level, the delivery of such additional provision is dependent on the particular circumstances of each case and may, depending on the circumstances, be provided through either one, or a combination of, the following:

- Utilising existing unused capacity within a school or schools,

- Extending the capacity of a school or schools,

- Provision of a new school or schools.

A patronage process is run after it has been decided, based on demographic analysis, that a new school is required. This patronage process is open to all patron bodies and prospective patrons. Parental preferences from parents of children who reside in the school planning areas concerned, together with the extent of diversity currently available in these areas, are key to decisions in relation to the outcome of this process. In order to best assist parents, my Department has developed an Online Patronage Process System (OPPS) and this provides objective information to parents and guardians which allows them to make an informed choice in expressing a preference for their preferred model of patronage and language of instruction i.e. Irish or English of the new school.

Previous demographic exercises indicated a need for two new primary schools to serve the Scribblestown_FinglasWest school planning area and following the appropriate patronage processes Pelletstown ETNS opened under the patronage of Educate Together in 2015 and Scoil Sinéad opened in 2017 under the patronage of Scoil Sinéad.

The requirement for new schools nationwide, including in Scribblestown_FinglasWest and in FinglasEast_BallymunD11 will be kept under on-going review and patronage processes will be run in respect of any new schools that are to be established to meet a demographic need.

In addition, the Schools Reconfiguration for Diversity Process provides an opportunity to increase the number of multi-denominational schools nationwide. The process, which involves the live transfer of existing schools, is designed to provide additional multi-denominational schools in line with the expressed wishes of parents and the local school community. The “Early Movers” provision of the Schools Reconfiguration Process enables school communities which have already decided to seek a transfer of patronage (independent of the survey process envisaged as part of the Schools Reconfiguration process) to engage with their school patron on the matter. A patron may transfer patronage under section 8 of the Education Act 1998. A number of patronage changes have taken place in recent years in this context.