Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein)
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415. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the school planning areas in Dublin city; the student population in each planning area; the schools in each area by population, staff levels and ratios in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9542/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy may be aware, for school planning purposes my Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas. The school planning areas in Dublin City are as follows:

- Cabra_Phibsboro_D7

- Drumcondra_Marino_Dublin1

- Dublin_8

- Dublin2_Dublin4

- Dublin6_Clonskeagh

- Dublin_6W

- Rathfarnham

- Booterstown_Blackrock

- Dolphin’s Barn_D12

- Ballyfermot_D10

- Killester_Raheny_Clontarf

- Donaghmede_Howth_D13

- Darndale_D17

- Beaumont_CoolockD5

- Whitehall_SantryD9

- FinglasEast_BallymunD11

- Scribblestown_FinglasWest

For clarity, this list reflects school planning areas which are fully or partly within the Dublin City Council administrative area.

Data on schools across the country is available on my Department’s website, www.education.ie under the “Find a School” function. Schools can be searched for using a number of different criteria including, inter alia, School Level, Geographical Area and Ethos and key information on the relevant schools, including enrolments from the 2019/20 academic year, is displayed in the results. A map of the relevant schools is provided as part of the "Find a School" functionality.

Full lists of all schools at primary or post primary level can also be downloaded from my Department's website and these provide further data on individual schools. These lists can be filtered by local authority and/or county which may be helpful.

In respect of school staffing, the criteria used for the allocation of teaching posts is published annually on the Department website. The key factor for determining the level of staffing resources (teachers) provided at individual school level is the staffing schedule for the relevant school year and pupil enrolments on the previous 30 September. The staffing schedule operates in a clear and transparent manner and treats all similar types of schools equally, irrespective of location. For the current school year (2020/21), it operates on a general average of 26 pupils to every 1 teacher (26:1) which is historically the lowest ever allocation ratio at primary level. In DEIS schools, the staffing schedule operates at a more preferential allocation ratio.

For the upcoming school year (2021/22) at primary level the staffing schedule will operate on a general average of 25 pupil to every 1 teacher (25:1).The staffing schedule for the 2021/22 school year will be published in the coming weeks. It is at this stage that schools will be able to establish their staffing for the coming September and the redeployment process to fill teaching vacancies will begin.

Teachers are currently allocated to post primary schools at a ratio of 19:1 in the free education system and 23:1 to schools in the fee charging sector.

Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein)
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416. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if there are plans for additional primary or secondary schools in each of the planning areas across Dublin city; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9543/21]

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, utilising data from a range of sources including information on planned and current residential development, to identify where the pressure for school places across the country will arise. My Department then makes an assessment of the existing capacity within the particular area and its ability to meet increased demand.

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 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.

Since 2011, four new post primary schools and eleven new primary schools have been established for demographic purposes to serve school planning areas which are partly or fully within the Dublin City Council administrative area. An additional two new primary schools have been established in Dublin City school planning areas under the patronage divesting process.

In addition to those new schools which have already been established, the below schools have also been announced to serve school planning areas in Dublin City:

- A new Gaelscoil to serve the Donaghmede_Howth_D13 school planning area to be established in 2021

- A new Gaelscoil to serve the Dublin2_Dublin4 school planning area to be established in 2021

- A new post primary school to serve Booterstown_Blackrock and Dún Laoghaire school planning areas to be established in 2021

- A new post primary school to serve Drumcondra_Marino_Dublin1 school planning area to be established in 2022

The requirement for additional school places is kept under on-going review and work on an updated exercise to assess needs for the coming years is at an advanced stage.