Vol. 379 No. 6
asked the Minister for Education if she will set out the changes which have occurred in the last two years in the population projections of her Department for the availabiity of second level school places in north-east County Wicklow on which she has based her decision to cancel the provision of a new community college in the Kilcoole-Kilquade area of County Wicklow, as conveyed to Deputy Gemma Hussey in her letter dated 8 April 1988.
281.
asked the Minister for Education the growth which is forecast in the number of students leaving primary schools in the Kilcoole-Kilquade-Newtownmountkennedy-Newcastle areas of County Wicklow in the next ten years. years.
282.
asked the Minister for Education the extra availability of second level places in the Bray, Greystones and Wicklow schools, County Wicklow which are forecast by her Department in the next ten years; and if the expected increase in primary school leavers in the Kilcoole, Kilquade, New-townmountkennedy and Newcastle will be catered for in those schools.
283.
asked the Minister for Education if she will give specific details, school by school, of the extra places at second level in the Bray, Greystones and Wicklow areas of County Wicklow which will be available for the increase in primary school leavers in the Kilquade-Kilcoole-Newtownmount-kennedy and Newcastle areas in the next ten years.
284.
asked the Minister for education if the second level school authorities in Bray, Greystones and Wicklow were each consulted as to increased availability of places for children from the Kilcoole-Kilquade-New-townmountkennedy and Newcastle areas before she decided to cancel the new community college in north-east County Wicklow; and if she has satisfied herself that there will be sufficient places for all those children within a reasonable travelling distance.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 280 to 284, inclusive, together.
The decision to provide a new post primary school in Kilquade was taken in January 1985. It was taken on the basis of projections of significant growth in housing, population and pupil numbers in the Kilcoole, Kilquade and New-townmountkennedy areas. Also, it was anticipated that the schools in Bray, Wicklow and Greystones, currently catering for post primary pupils from those areas, would not be able to do so in future.
These assumptions have not been borne out. In particular there has not been, and it appears that there will not be, a significant increase in the number of pupils annually leaving the four primary schools in Kilcoole and Newtown-mountkennedy: the total number leaving at the end of the 1986-87 school year was 95; the total number projected to leave at the end of the 1994-95 school year is 133. Baptism figures for the parish of Kilquade have remained stable in recent years and are at a level which would not justify the provision of a new school in Kilquade.
Other factors have meant that the existing post primary schools in Bray, Wicklow and Greystones will continue to cater adequately for pupils from Kilcoole, Kilquade, Newcastle and New-townmountkennedy. Firstly, a new comprehensive school in Wicklow town for 250 places opened in September 1987; this has had an effect on the level of first year enrolments in some of the other schools, particularly in Greystones where surplus capacity of almost 100 places exists. Secondly, the three schools in Wicklow town have all had additional accommodation completed in recent years with the result that there is now a small, but increasing, surplus of provision in the centre. In Bray post primary centre, the total intake into the five schools in the free education scheme has fallen for the second year in succession.
At no time in the foreseeable future will potential demand for post primary school places from the area exceed the number of available intake places.
Given these circumstances and in the light of current financial constraints I am sure that the Deputy will accept that the provision of further post primary accommodation in north-east County Wicklow is not justified. Having regard to all the relevant data, therefore, the question of consulting each second level school authority did not arise. I am satisfied that the post primary schools in Bray, Greystones and Wicklow, which are well served by existing transport arrangements, will continue to cater adequately for all the pupils in these catchment areas seeking post primary education.
