Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 24 April 2024
64. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Education the latest updates on provision of new school places in the Dún Laoghaire area at primary and post-primary level; the latest population projections for the area; whether planned school place expansion is consistent with those projections; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18210/24]
View answerI 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 my Department.
As the Deputy may be aware, while there can be enrolment pressures and demand for additional school places 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 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.
In response to such previously identified demographic pressures, my Department is providing significant additional primary and post primary capacity in the Dún Laoghaire School Planning Area, including new school building projects for Gaelscoil Laighean and Dun Laoghaire ETNS. The project for Gaelscoil Laighean will be delivered under the Department’s ADAPT Programme at Mount Anville Road, Mount Merrion, Dublin 14. ADAPT is an acronym for "Accelerated Delivery of Architectural Planning and Tendering". The ADAPT Programme uses a professional external Project Manager to co-ordinate and drive the Design Team to achieve the best possible timeframe during the stages of architectural planning. The brief for this project is to deliver a new permanent 8 classroom Primary School with 2 classes for pupils with special educational needs, at the schools current location in Mount Merrion. The project is currently at Design Team Appointment stage, and it is anticipated that a Design Team will shortly be appointed for the major project for Gaelscoil Laighean. The Project Manager and my Department will inform the school authorities of the Design Team appointment. Upon ratification of the Design Team Appointment, the Project Manager will arrange an initial briefing meeting between all the Stakeholders prior to the Design Team commencing Stage 1 - Preliminary Design (assessment of site and location suitability and initial sketch scheme).
Dun Laoghaire ETNS has planning permission and will, along with a number of other projects with planning permission, be brought to the level of employer-led design with a Design Team assigned to do so under the supervision of my Department’s Project Manager. This building project will provide a new 16 classroom primary school and accommodation, including two classrooms for children with special educational needs. The process of appointing the Design Team from my Department’s Frameworks of Consultants was completed in September 2023 and the project is now progressing through design development stages. My Department will continue to liaise with the school’s patron body in relation to the school’s interim accommodation needs pending delivery of the permanent accommodation for the school and will provide further updates as the project progresses.
In addition to the above, there are 2 extension projects for Oatlands College which are currently at Stage 1 and Project Brief stage which will provide for an increased LTPE of 770.
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.
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.
As per population projections for the area, In order to plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data, my Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas 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.
The total for the population enumerated in Census 2022 was 5,149,139 persons which is an increase of 8% since April 2016. Any change arising from an increase in the number of pupils directly linked to the Census is likely to be marginal in the short term relative to the overall challenge of meeting our targets. This is because we already have the precise enrolment numbers for all of the children covered by the census. The only immediate change is likely to be to the projected intake to infant classes next September but this would already have been tracked through monitoring of child benefit data.
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, my 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.
The 2023 demographic exercise indicates that 79% of the 314 school planning areas at primary level show static or decreasing enrolments for the period to 2027 compared with 2022. At post-primary level some 78% of school planning areas are anticipated to have increased enrolments for the period to 2030, with most expected to reach a peak within the next two or three years.
The most recent projections for the Dún Laoghaire School Planning area indicate the projected peak year for enrolments at primary level is 2027 and at post primary level the projected peak year was 2023.
Where demographic data indicates that additional provision is required, the delivery of such additional provision 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.
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 have to be prioritised to meet the needs of areas of significant population increase so as to ensure that every child has a school place.
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.
I can assure the Deputy that my Department will continue to keep the school place requirements in the Dún Laoghaire School Planning Area, as with other areas across the country, under review.
