Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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118. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the process of dividing the country into 314 school planning areas is underpinned by either primary or secondary legislation. [25000/22]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Education Act requires the Minister for Education, as a function, to plan and co-ordinate the provision of education in recognised schools and to do all such acts and things as may be necessary to further the objects of the Act.

The Act also bestows on the Minister all such powers as are necessary or expedient for the purpose of performing her functions.

It also stipulates that in carrying out her functions, the Minister must have regard to the resources available and the practices and traditions relating to the organisation of existing schools and their right to manage their own affairs in accordance with the Act and any charters, deeds, articles of management or other such instruments relating to their establishment or operation.

As the Deputy is aware, in order to plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data in a way that takes account of the significant local and regional variations in demographic trends and enrolment projections, my Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas.

In most areas, school planning areas were based on traditional school catchment areas where all primary schools were assigned to a post-primary feeder area (typically a population centre or town), containing one or more post-primary schools. The school planning areas were developed for use with the Department’s Geographic Information System (GIS) in 2008 and with the introduction of Small Areas in Census 2011, these areas were amended to align with Census Small Areas. The current school planning areas take account not only of local groupings of schools, but also of natural boundaries, Census Small Areas and other local conditions.

The school planning areas provide a useful means of projecting demographic demand in a localised area or areas, thereby allowing the Department to determine oncoming growth at a relatively localised level to inform recommendations and decisions on where additional school places may be needed. However, there can be a high degree of inward and outward mobility of children between school planning areas, particularly in urban areas, and parents are free to apply to enrol their children in any school, whether that is in the school planning area in which they reside or not.