Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I can assure the Deputy it is an absolute priority that every child in the State has access to a school place and the Department of Education and Youth are continually planning for and investing in existing and new schools to ensure that this is the case.

Since 2020, my department has invested over €6 billion in our schools throughout the country, including over €1.5 billion in Dublin, involving the completion of over 1,375 school building projects.?Between projects currently under construction and projects moving to construction in the coming months, investments by the Department are adding over 610,000 square metres of new and modernised capacity to our school estate.??

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.

While the Department is aware of enrolment pressures and demand for additional school places in some areas, it is important to note that where enrolment pressures arise, it may not be as a result of lack of accommodation but may be driven by the following factors:

• Duplication of applications
• School of choice
• Single sex schools
• External draw

Notwithstanding the above, in some areas demographic pressures and other factors are driving a requirement for additional school places.

Where demographic data indicates that additional provision is required, the delivery of such additional capacity is dependent on the particular 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

There are a number of active projects at primary level in progress in the Newcastle_Rathcoole school planning area which will provide additional capacity in the area. These projects include new state of the art school building projects for Scoil Chronain and Gaelscoil Lir to provide 16 mainstream classrooms and two special education classroom schools and a 16 mainstream classroom and four special education classrooms for Rathcoole ETNS. In addition, there are recently completed extension projects for Citywest & Saggart CNS and City West ETNS.

At post primary level Holy Family Community School in Rathcoole and Colaiste Pobail Fola, a regional solution established to serve the Tallaght & Newcastle_Rathcoole school planning area, is located in Saggart. There are two post-primary schools’ projects in the school building programme in the school planning area, providing additional capacity. These will, when completed, cater for 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 four classrooms, for children with special educational needs, currently at Stage 4 - Construction. The project for Holy Family CS is at Stage 4 – Construction.

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 Department will continue to keep the school place requirements throughout the country, including the Saggart, Rathcoole and Citywest areas, as with other areas across the country, under review.