Jen Cummins (Dublin South Central, Social Democrats)
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98. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills for an update on the number of children waiting for an appropriate school place in Dublin south central. [17722/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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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 of Education.

At a national level, Ireland has been experiencing growth in overall post primary enrolments and this is projected to continue in many parts of the country for the next number of years before beginning to decline. However, first year enrolments nationally are expected to have peaked in the 2023/24 school year and are beginning to decline from next year. At primary level, there is generally good capacity across the country, although there are some areas under continuing demographic pressures.

Nevertheless, the Department has put in place a number of measures to support parents and post-primary schools in Dublin South Central, including Ballyfermot_D10, Dublin_8, Dolphin’s Barn_D12 and Dublin_6w School Planning Areas, with a view to helping the admissions process for 2025/26 run as smoothly as possible.

Firstly, 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.

Secondly, 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.

Furthermore, the successful data-sharing arrangements that were implemented for the 2024/25 admissions process in areas of enrolment pressure have been put in place again for the 2025/26 process, including areas in Dublin South Central. 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.

The nature of the admissions processes is quite complex as offers and acceptances continue to transact and there can often be significant overlap across areas and schools. In that context, while some applicants may not yet have received an offer of a school place for 2025/26, families can be assured that all children who require a school place will be provided with one.

The availability of places is a matter for each individual school in the context of their Admissions legislation. Enrolment data for previous school years is available on the Department website. Provisional enrolment data for the 2023/24 school year is available of the Departments website at www.gov.ie. The specific information requested is not available at this time.

The Educational Welfare Services of the Child and Family Agency, Tusla, is the statutory agency that can assist parents who are experiencing difficulty in securing a school place for their child. The local service is delivered through the national network of Educational Welfare Officers. Contact details are available on Tusla’s website.

My Department continues to proactively plan for school place needs, using the most up to date data. Information on current and projected future population, and the impact of future residential development in each town, are all considered as part of this planning process. Engagement with school patrons is another important component of the Department’s planning process.

I want to assure the Deputy that my Department will continue to work to ensure every child across the country, including in Dublin South Central, has a school place.