Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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14. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the action she will take to ensure that there are sufficient school places for every child who needs one in September; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23915/24]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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It is an absolute priority of the Department to ensure that every child in the State has access to a school place that is appropriate to their needs and we are continually investing in existing and new schools to ensure that this is the case.

Testament to this is that nearly 400 new classes for children with special education were established for the 2023/24 school year and school building projects completed in 2023 delivered over 7,000 additional mainstream post primary school places.

Since 2020, my department has invested in the region of €4.8 billion in our schools throughout the country, involving the completion of over 800 school building projects and with construction currently underway at approximately 300 other projects, which includes 30 new school buildings. These 300 projects currently at construction involve a total State investment of over €1.2bn.

I also recently announced that close to 90 projects, including 28 new school buildings, would be authorised to proceed from tender stage to construction over the course of 2024 and early 2025. In total, around €800 million will be invested in these projects under the department’s Large Scale Capital Programme and Additional Accommodation Scheme for essential classroom accommodation.

This capital investment is underpinned by a robust school planning approach that uses a Geographical Information System to anticipate school place demand. Information from a range of sources, including Child Benefit Data, school enrolment data and information on residential development activity is utilised for this purpose. Additionally, Project Ireland 2040 population and housing targets inform my Department’s projections of school place requirements.

There are one million learners across 4,000 primary and post-primary schools around the country. Growth in overall post primary enrolments is projected to continue in many parts of the country. However, first year enrolments nationally are expected to have peaked in the current school year and will begin to decline.

Nevertheless, due to strong residential construction and planning activity, we can expect to see increasing demand in particular towns and areas. This is fully factored into my Department’s forward planning approach, which includes extensive engagement with local authorities.

In the area of special education, the National Council for Special Education has forecast continued significant growth in the requirements for special classes at post primary level. My Department is working towards the provision of an average of four special classes in every post primary school.

While there can be enrolment pressures in some areas, it is important to note that sometimes this may not be as a result of lack of accommodation but may be driven by factors such as duplications of applications, and applications from outside the local area.

Notwithstanding this, in some areas there can be an underlying requirement for additional school places. In that context, as part of planning for September 2024, data on applications for admission was shared with my Department by post-primary schools across areas of enrolment pressure.

The sharing of this data has been very effective in the identification of school place requirements. In the majority of areas, through the work of schools, patrons, management bodies and the department, there are sufficient school places available to meet the needs of children in the area. The Department is working with schools and patrons and additional places have already been made available in some areas. Further additional provision will be made where a need is identified.

While a small number of applicants may not yet have received an offer of a school place for 2024/25, I want to assure families that all children who require a school place will be provided with one.