Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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250. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she is satisfied that all primary and second level school places required for September 2024 are available throughout County Kildare, including but not limited to, Prosperous, Clane, Naas, Maynooth, Leixlip, Celbridge, Kilcock and Straffan; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24114/24]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The provision of school places to meet the needs of children and young people at primary and post primary level, including children and young people with special educational needs is an absolute priority for my Department.

My Department is aware of pressures for primary and post primary school places for the 2024/25 school year in North Kildare. As part of planning for September 2024, data on applications for admission has been received by the department from post-primary schools across areas of known enrolment pressure including the School Planning Areas of Maynooth, Naas, Celbridge, and Prosperous-Clane. Leixlip School Planning Area was not included in this new process for 2024.

The sharing of this data has been very effective in the identification of school place requirements across the areas. In the majority of areas across Kildare, 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 has continued to work with schools and patrons to make additional places available in a small number of areas where a need has been identified. To date additional Post-Primary places have been made available in Maynooth, Prosperous-Clane and Celbridge. Additional primary places have also been made available in Kilcock following consultation last year.

This close engagement with schools and patrons will also allow my Department to identify particular further capacity requirements for the forthcoming years and put any required solutions in place - beyond those that are already in train - to ensure sufficient school places to meet the needs of students in the area.

The Deputy will appreciate that there can often be significant overlap across areas and schools and the nature of the admissions processes is quite complex. As a result there can be multiple iterations, where applicants may accept a place but subsequently be offered and accept a place at a second school, freeing up capacity at the first school accepted. In that context, while some applicants may not yet have received an offer of a school place for 2024/25, families can be assured that all children who require a school place will be provided with one. My Department is continuing to work with schools and patrons to ensure that there are sufficient school places available, and to put any required solutions in place. This includes engagement in areas which were not included in the more detailed data sharing arrangements for 2024/25. As part of this engagement with patrons, my Department is also collaboratively planning towards 2025/26 and future years, as part of forward planning generally.

The picture in relation to school place requirements is very dynamic, noting that children may also move into an area during the course of the school year (including from overseas). This is a particular issue in parts of the country where expansion of residential development has been contributing to mid-year demand for places. Nevertheless, My Department will continue to engage with Patrons and school authorities to ensure that every child in the Kildare area will receive a school place.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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251. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the extent to which emergency measures are being taken to ensure the availability of the adequate number of school places at primary and second level in September 2024; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24115/24]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I can assure the Deputy that the provision of school places to meet the needs of children and young people at primary and post primary level, including children and young people with special educational needs is an absolute priority for the Department.

While there can be enrolment pressures in some areas, it is important to note 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 is being 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.

The Deputy will appreciate that there can often be significant overlap across areas and schools and the nature of the admissions processes is quite complex. As a result there can be multiple iterations, where applicants may accept a place but subsequently be offered and accept a place at a second school, freeing up capacity at the first school accepted. In that context, while some applicants may not yet have received an offer of a school place for 2024/25, families can be assured that all children who require a school place will be provided with one. The Department is continuing to work with schools and patrons to ensure that there are sufficient school places available, and to put any required solutions in place.

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 full 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.

My Department's main responsibility is to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking school places in the area. In relation to school admissions, it is the responsibility of the managerial authorities of all schools to implement an enrolment policy in accordance with the Education Act, 1998.

Parents have the right to choose which school to apply to and where the school has places available the pupil should be admitted. However, in schools where there are more applicants than places available a selection process may be necessary. This selection process and the enrolment policy on which it is based must be non-discriminatory and must be applied fairly in respect of all applicants. However, this may result in some pupils not obtaining a place in the school of their first choice.

I can assure the Deputy that the Department will continue to work with schools and patrons to ensure that there is appropriate provision for all students across the country for the 2024/25 school year and into the future.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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252. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the extent to which ongoing dialogue continues between her Department, the KWETB and the relevant school authorities in Prosperous, County Kildare at pre-primary, primary and post-primary levels, with a view to ensuring that sufficient places are being made available to meet the demand of the current and subsequent years without interruption either in respect of continued building where required, the planning of any new schools, or the acceleration of ongoing work in all schools; if satisfactory results can be achieved before the new school year; if she is satisfied that work in progress or steps yet to be taken can proceed without interruption; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24116/24]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The provision of school places to meet the needs of children and young people at primary and post primary level, including children and young people with special educational needs is an absolute priority for the Department.

My Department is aware of pressures for school places for the 2024/25 school year in Prosperous_Clane School Planning Area. As part of planning for September 2024, data on applications for admission has been received by the department from post-primary schools across areas of known enrolment pressure including the School Planning Areas of Maynooth, Naas, Celbridge, Newbridge, Naas, Kildare and Prosperous_Clane.

The sharing of this data has been very effective in the identification of school place requirements across the areas. In the majority of areas across Kildare, 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 has worked with schools and patrons to make additional places available in a small number of areas where a need has been identified. To date, of the above School Planning Areas, additional 1st year places have been made available in Prosperous _Clane, Maynooth and Celbridge which has ensured there is sufficient capacity for September 2024 to meet the needs of all the local children. The Department has also been made aware of existing capacity within Naas, and has had positive engagement from a patron regarding the provision of additional first year places if the existing capacity is not sufficient. The Department also continues to engage with patrons to ensure all children in the Prosperous_Clane School Planning Area are provided with a school place, further to additional places that have already been made available in Prosperous.

The Deputy will appreciate that there can often be significant overlap across areas and schools and the nature of the admissions processes is quite complex. As a result there can be multiple iterations, where applicants may accept a place but subsequently be offered and accept a place at a second school, freeing up capacity at the first school accepted. In that context, while some applicants may not yet have received an offer of a school place for 2024/25, families can be assured that all children who require a school place will be provided with one. The Department is continuing to work with schools and patrons to ensure that there are sufficient school places available, and to put any required solutions in place. This includes engagement in areas which were not included in the more detailed data sharing arrangements for 2024/25. As part of this engagement with patrons, the Department is also collaboratively planning towards 2025/26 and future years, as part of forward planning generally.

The Department has invested significantly in schools in County Kildare over recent years. Under the National Development Plan, a total of almost €250m has been invested in schools in County Kildare over the last five years. This investment has focused on provision of additional capacity to cater for its increasing population and there are further significant projects in our pipeline including for the North Kildare area.

A number of further new school buildings and extensions are at construction or planned in Prosperous_Clane School Planning Area. The project to provide for 1,000 pupils at St. Farnan’s is currently at Stage 2b and the project at Scoil Mhuire is to provide additional classrooms, 2 science labs, 5 mainstream classrooms and 4 classroom SEN base is at Stage 1.

The Capital Programme details the school projects that are being progressed under Project Ireland 2040. The current status of large-scale projects being delivered under Project Ireland 2040, may be viewed on the Department's website at, www.gov.ie and this information is updated regularly. In addition, a list of large-scale projects completed from 2010 to date may also be viewed on the website.

The picture in relation to school place requirements is very dynamic, noting that children may also move into an area during the course of the school year (including from overseas). This is a particular issue in parts of the country where expansion of residential development has been contributing to mid-year demand for places.

The Deputy may be aware that the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) is responsible for early years education outside the formal education system, including preschool provision through the free Early Childhood Care and Education Scheme (ECCE).

Department officials will continue to work with schools and patrons to ensure that there is appropriate provision for all students in the Prosperous_Clane School Planning Area for the 2024/25 school year and into the future.