Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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458. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will publish data on future demand for a new secondary school in Newcastle, County Dublin; if she will make a statement on projected demand for special education in the area; and if she will report on her engagement with a group (details supplied). [44803/24]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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In order to plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data, the department divides the country into 314 school planning areas (SPA) and uses a geographical information system, using data from a range of sources, including CSO Census data, child benefit and school enrolment data, to identify where the pressure for school places across the country will arise and where additional school accommodation is needed at primary and post-primary level.

Major new residential developments have the potential to alter the demand for school places at a local level. In that regard, as part of the demographic demand analysis, the department monitors planning and construction activity in the residential sector. This involves the analysis of data sources from local authorities and the CSO along with the engagement with local authorities and the construction sector. In this way, up-to-date information on significant new residential developments is obtained and factored into the demographic analysis exercise. This is necessary to ensure that schools infrastructure planning is keeping pace with demographic changes, at a local level, where there is a constantly evolving picture with planned new residential development.

Where demographic data indicates that additional provision is required, the delivery of such additional provision is dependent on the circumstances of each case and may be provided through:

• Utilising existing unused capacity within a school or schools,

• Extending the capacity of a school or schools,

• Provision of a new school or schools.

If additional accommodation is required, the aim to try and facilitate this, as much as possible, by way of expansion of existing schools rather than establishing new schools. The expansion of existing schools is consistent with wider Government objectives under Project Ireland 2040 for an increased emphasis on compact growth. In respect of post primary schools, new post primary schools must have a student enrolment capacity of 600-1,000 students and must be co-educational. A lower threshold of 400 students may apply to gaelcholáistí, having regard to the alternative of establishing an Irish-medium unit (aonad) in an English-medium school.

New schools are only established in areas of demographic growth as the resources available for school infrastructure must be prioritised to meet the needs of areas of significant population increase to ensure that every child has a school place.

There is currently less than 500 post primary school pupils living in the Newcastle urban area. These pupils attend school in Rathcoole, Lucan & City West, where school capacity has been provided to accommodate them.

For school planning purposes Newcastle is located in the Newcastle_Rathcoole school planning area. Based on a zero-migration scenario the demand for post primary school places in the SPA is projected to peak in 2028 and reduce thereafter.

The impact of new residential developments is under review with South Dublin County Council.

There are two post-primary projects in the school building programme, providing additional capacity in the school planning area. These will, when completed, will cater the demand for school places in the area:

The school building project for Colaiste Pobail Fola is being delivered under the department’s Design and Build Programme as a campus project and will deliver a new 1,000 pupil post-primary school and accommodation, including 4 classrooms, for children with special educational needs and a new 16 classroom primary school and accommodation, including 2 classrooms, for children with special educational needs on the ETB-owned site at Fortunestown Lane. Letter of Acceptance (LOA) issued to the successful contractor on 28th of June 2024, which allowed the contractor to mobilise to site. The works on site are progressing and the project is being delivered on a phased basis.

The project for Holy Family CS is at Architectural Planning Stage 4 – Construction. Works commenced on site in August 2024 with an estimated contract duration of 36 months.

Details of large-scale projects being delivered under the school building programme may be viewed on my 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.

As part of planning for September 2025, the department will be engaging with an increased number of post-primary schools across areas of potential enrolment pressure, including areas in counties Kildare, Wicklow, Dublin, Galway, and Cork. This engagement will include the request for admissions data to help identify duplicate applications and determine the need for additional places, if any, in the area. It is expected that, as in previous years, the data sharing will provide confidence that there is sufficient school place availability in the majority of areas. However, if a shortfall of places is identified in an area, the Department will work with schools to put the necessary solutions in place. In addition, the department has improved the central Post-Primary On-line Database IT system that schools use to register student enrolments. This is an important improvement and is available to assist schools to manage the enrolment process and provide real-time notification to schools where a new student has accepted a school place in more than one school. This will help identify duplicate enrolments at a very early stage.

The department has written to all parents and guardians of children in sixth class with advice and guidance regarding the admissions process for post-primary for the 2025/26 school year. This letter advised parents to apply to multiple schools in areas where there is high demand and requested parents to take steps to avoid holding multiple places.

The NCSE has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children with special educational needs nationwide.

Almost 1,700 classes have been sanctioned by the NCSE in recent years, 11 new special schools have also been established and many more expanded in this time. For this school year alone over 400 new special classes have been sanctioned bringing the total number of special classes nationwide to 3,337.

Budget 2025 provides funding for another 400 special classes and 300 special school places nationwide and it is estimated that a similar level of provision will be needed each year for the next 3 years. Particularly, demand for new special classes at post-primary level is expected to increase significantly over the next few years. This is due to increasing demographics and increasing prevalence rates. The department and the NCSE have engaged with post-primary stakeholders in this regard.

In October 2022, the department wrote to all post-primary schools requesting that each school begin planning to provide for up to four special classes to meet the needs of children progressing from primary school. Just this month the department issued a circular to all schools setting out new measures to support the forward planning of special education provision. Included in this circular was a reminder of the need for post primary schools to continue planning for this level of provision.

The department and the NCSE are engaging with schools and school management bodies in relation to the provision of future special classes and are committed to ensuring that sufficient special education placements will be available for children for this school year and future years.

The NCSE have recruited additional special education needs organisers (SENOs), advisors and team managers. The number of SENOs has increased to 120 nationwide. SENOs play an important role in ensuring there is adequate special educational provision within local areas and are currently visiting schools nationwide to conduct planning meetings. These visits will be key in terms of forward planning for the 2025/26 school year.

Parents seeking special class placements for their children are advised to contact the NCSE locally so that their needs can be taken into account for planning purposes. Local SENOs are available to assist and advise parents on their options and the supports available.

The department will continue to liaise with local authorities in respect of their County Development Plan and any associated Local Area Plans with a view to identifying any potential long-term school accommodation requirements across school planning areas.