Vol. 1038 No. 3
53. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education the engagement her Department has had with the relevant stakeholders and the additional steps that will be taken this year to ensure that all children with special educational needs have an appropriate school place this September. [22505/23]
Last June, a report by the Ombudsman for Children's office stated that it was his view that any failure to include children with special educational needs, SEN, within the mainstream school system for any reason other than to facilitate their effect education constitutes discrimination. What engagement has the Department had with relevant stakeholders and what additional steps will be taken this year to ensure that all children with special educational needs have an appropriate school place for the coming September?
I thank the Deputy for her question. It is of huge importance to me, as Minister of State with responsibility for special education. I concur with what the Deputy says by virtue of the fact that all children, particularly children with additional needs, should have an appropriate placement, whether in a mainstream class, in a special class or, indeed, in a special school.
Ninety-eight per cent of children with special educational needs attend mainstream settings, which is good. However, there are obviously children with more complex needs who need more appropriate provision, whether in a special class or in a special school.
Over the last number of years, we have brought in a number of different initiatives to make sure no child with an additional need is left without an appropriate placement. As the Deputy will know, we have a budget of €2.6 billion. That is 27% of the entire education budget and a 10% increase on last year. That provides funding for SEN in mainstream, for special classes, special school places and for special education teachers. We had funding for over 600 such teachers in the budget and 1,194 SNAs. Over the last three years we have sanctioned 600 special class places at primary level and 300 special class places at post-primary level. Within the next few months we will have opened seven special schools in the last three years. That will demonstrate to the Deputy the progress we have made since this role as Minister of State for special education was created. The Minister for Education and I announced on 12 April that two new special schools will be opened, one in Carrigtwohill in east Cork and the other in Dublin 7. There will also be further capacity in 11 other special schools nationwide.
That is a brief overview of the figures, data and statistics. However, it is also important that we put our focus on forward planning into the future so we never have a situation where a child is left without an appropriate placement. We managed to do that last year and we will also do it this year.
I think we can all agree that the scenes last year of desperate parents begging and pleading for their child to have access to what is a very basic right, namely, a school place, was utterly disgraceful. In my constituency, parents whose children had autism took to the streets with placards in desperation. Athlone Community College then had an additional class opened to accommodate six children. That does not mean we are not going to have a situation again this year where children are forced to travel outside of their towns, away from their peers, for no other reason than they have a special educational need. This has always been a challenging situation - let us be honest and fair and say that truthfully - but the Department has made that challenging situation almost impossible for parents. Again this year we are seeing parents taking to local radio or national newspapers, desperately pleading for that help for their child. There is one particular man, Damien and his son Evan, who I read about in the newspaper only last week. Based on contact I have had with parents the length and breadth of the country, these are not isolated incidents. This is simply down to a lack of the planning the Minister of State spoke of but it is the most vulnerable children in our society who are paying the price for that.
I can reassure the Deputy that as Minister of State with responsibility for special education I absolutely do not want to see children or parents, or indeed school staff, out with placards trying to obtain an appropriate placement for their child. Parents should in the first instance contact their local special educational needs organiser, SENO, who will advise them on appropriate placements. It is important to note that the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, was given an extra €13 million in the budget this year to hire an additional 160 staff, including SENOs, which will help with communication on the ground. It has often been the case that there is a placement available but that has not been communicated to the parent. We have made real inroads in making sure that communication is kept open. There are a lot of new measures in place. There is the automatic inclusion of special class provision in all new school buildings going forward. There is automatic administrative status for any primary principals with two or more special classes as an incentive. There is the stronger use of the geographical information system, which is absolutely key in forward planning to identify where there is demand and where there is capacity. In the Deputy's own constituency there are 33 special classes in Longford, with 19 primary and 14 post-primary. There are 53 in Westmeath with 35 primary and 18 post-primary.
I am well aware of what exists in my constituency. I am also well aware of the experiences parents are continuing to have. I referenced the Ombudsman for Children's report last year. Today we read that of the 1,812 complaints to that office in 2022, education accounted for 30%. The report specifically references the many barriers children are facing in education, and special education in particular. The Minister of State mentioned SENOs and the NCSE. There is not a parent of a child with additional needs that I know of who is not well aware of those entities and in constant contact with them.
The public consultation on the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs, EPSEN, Act recently finished. The Department spoke of engaging with schools, parent groups, student organisations and so on. Will the Minister of State commit to publishing an interim report on the review of the EPSEN Act? Will she also commit to implementing, in a timely fashion, any recommendation that comes from that? As we stand here today there are parents with children who have a special educational need who do not know where they are going in September. Their peers are talking with great excitement about new schools, new teachers, new everything and these children are sat there with no information and no guarantee they will even have a school place.
For September of this year, we have already sanctioned 305 special classes and we expect that more will be sanctioned over the coming weeks. There are 197 sanctioned for primary level and 108 at post-primary. There are 2,537 special classes now in the country, with 1,798 at primary and 739 at post-primary. There is consistent and constant engagement with the NCSE on forward planning. There is a detailed review ongoing of statistical data all the time. There is consideration of improved data-sharing arrangements. There is always a review of the school accommodation capacity and a particular focus on special classes at post-primary level. We wrote to all post-primary schools last October and said that we will need them to provide special class places over the next three to five years, with an average of four special classes in each school. The Deputy is aware that there is legislation in place if that does not happen. Any child who was known to the NCSE was provided with an appropriate placement.
54. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Education if her Department has conducted any study of the rate of drop out from second level education; if so, if she can provide the statistics on the number of students who left school early in each of the past ten years and to date in 2023; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23210/23]
Has the Minister's Department conducted any study of the rate of drop-out from secondary school education? If so, can she provide the statistics on the number of students that have left school early in each of the past ten years and to date in 2023?
During my time as Minister for Education I have shown a strong commitment to addressing educational disadvantage. The Department’s statement of strategy sets out the vision and mission of the Department for an educational system where every child and young person feels valued and is actively supported and nurtured to reach his or her fullest potential. It sets equity of opportunity in education as a goal and equality and inclusivity as fundamental principles. Successful delivery of this goal means that our school system will be open and welcoming for all students and that learners at risk of educational disadvantage in particular will be supported to achieve their fullest potential.
As recently as January of this year, the Department published the latest in a series of reports on retention to leaving certificate level. The latest report measures the percentage of pupils who entered the first year of post-primary school in 2015 and who sat the leaving certificate examination in 2020 or 2021. Some of these were provided with calculated grades in 2020 due to Covid, as the Deputy will appreciate.
The latest report is the 14th publication in a series of reports which cover a total of 24 years, beginning with the 1991 post-primary entry cohort of students. These reports build a continuous time series recording retention rate trends in post-primary schools over the last two to three decades. All the reports containing the information requested by the Deputy are available on the Department’s website. The latest report shows that 92.1% of the students who entered first year in 2015 received either a calculated grade in 2020 or sat the leaving certificate examination in 2020 or 2021. The report shows that 97.5% sat the junior certificate examination in 2018 or 2019. This latest retention rate of 92.1% to leaving certificate represents an increase of 0.6% on the retention rate for the 2014 post-primary entry cohort.
A key action of my Department is continuing to address the retention gap between DEIS and non-DEIS schools through the DEIS programme. The current reports provide further evidence of progress in this area. The retention rate for schools participating in the DEIS programme increased to 86.1%, a 1.3% increase on the DEIS retention rate in the 2014 entry cohort report. The gap in retention rates between DEIS and non-DEIS schools is currently 7.6%. That is an improvement on the 2014 cohort, where the gap stood at 8.6%.
I thank the Minister. It is good to see that the retention rate is improving and reaching that level. I would cite what the Minister herself said about DEIS schools and the fact that the retention rate there is not as good. I welcome that she is looking at that.
It is important to make sure that as many people as possible have the highest possible level of educational attainment because that would be reflected in their job opportunities in future. According to the European Commission country report in 2022, Ireland has a higher than average early school leaving rate for people with disabilities at 27.8% versus the EU average of 23.6%. That is an area of concern that we and the Department could focus on for the future. It is important that we give every child, including children with a disability, the best chance to gain full employment in the future. The Minister might comment on that.
I appreciate the positive comment the Deputy made across a variety of different levels. It is important to note the school completion rate of in excess of 96% compared with an EU average of 84%, which speaks to the considerable achievement in this country on retention rates within schools. That is largely due to the considerable investment that has gone in. He referred to DEIS supports for our schools, with investment of more than €180 million last March, which was the single largest expansion of DEIS supports for our schools. We have specifically looked at initiatives like the provision of home school liaison officers, the school completion programmes, enhanced staffing through DEIS and all of that. The summer provision programme specifically looks at supporting children at risk of educational disadvantage and children with additional needs. Regarding children with additional needs, we are running a number of pilots to support students who want to transition from a post-primary school into further education opportunities. They are specifically for those with additional needs and considerable work is ongoing in that respect.
I thank the Minister. It is important to acknowledge that education is a fundamental pathway to employment. Maybe other schools have applied for DEIS status. Maybe that could be looked at. Some schools have many Ukrainian or foreign students who have come into the country in the past year. The dynamic has changed and there are challenges. It is important that every child who comes into our education system gets the best possible support. I had the experience at third level, where I lectured, of seeing students come in with disabilities who have thrived in that scenario. They have got special supports, additional supports and all that goes with that. We have the structure and everything right, but we have to try to become best in class. I know the Minister and the Minister of State will work on that to make sure that we end up being best in class and that everybody is at a level where they can achieve more.
We have more than 1,200 schools now in DEIS. One in four of all our students now benefit from DEIS supports. That is significant and we see its benefit. Keeping young people in school at a rate of 96%, compared with the EU, is quite an achievement. The Minister of State and I are very conscious about children and young people with additional needs. For that reason, we have a number of concentrated pilots. The Deputy is quite correct that when the right supports are put in place, children and young people have an opportunity to thrive. We see that in our own system. The Minister of State has articulated the variety of different special classes, special schools and additional supports that we are putting in place. We are also now putting in supports to transition from mainstream or special schools into further and higher education.
I want to be clear that considerable supports have been put into schools to support Ukrainian students or new students arriving. There are additional English as an additional language, EAL, hours and additional teachers coming into the system. It has been well resourced by the Department.
55. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education the engagement her Department has had with schools regarding the payment of voluntary contributions by parents. [22506/23]
Every year, parents are asked and sometimes demands are made of them for voluntary contributions, as schools try to bridge the gap between education grants and outgoings. Given the cost-of-living crisis that has gripped this State, what engagement has the Minister's Department had with schools regarding the payment of voluntary contributions by parents?
The Government believes and is clear that a rise in the cost of living should never be a barrier to education. The Deputy will be aware that as part of the cost-of-living measures announced in budget 2023, the Government provided an additional €90 million to schools as once-off additional capitation funding. This investment, in addition to a range of other funds being made available to schools, sought to ensure that any increased operational costs for schools were not passed on to parents. In the context of the current cost-of-living crisis and the additional funding being made available to schools, I firmly believe that schools should not seek additional voluntary contributions from parents.
All recognised primary and post-primary schools in the free education scheme benefited from this additional capitation funding in December 2022, which represents an increase of circa 40% of current capitation rates. The programme for Government contains a number of measures to help families address the cost of education. The standard rates of the capitation grant have increased by 7.5% in recent years. The standard rate of capitation for primary schools is now €183 per pupil and it is €316 per pupil in post primary schools.
The Government has introduced a new scheme to provide free schoolbooks to children and young people enrolled in recognised primary schools, including special schools, which will greatly reduce the burden on these families and reflects the importance that the Government places on education. This scheme will ensure that parents and guardians of children in primary schools will not be asked to buy or rent any schoolbooks, workbooks or copy books in autumn 2023. In excess of 558,000 pupils enrolled in approximately 3,230 primary schools, including more than 130 special schools, will benefit from the scheme. This funding will also provide schools with an administrative support grant to assist with the roll-out of the programme.
The programme for Government also contains a commitment to enable the Education (Student and Parent Charter) Bill 2019. The overall aim of the Bill is to improve the level of engagement in the school community by inviting feedback, comment and observation from students and parents and by further developing a listening culture in our schools. One of the key concepts of the Bill is the need for a school to consult students and parents on individual school plans, policies and activities. This approach will help ensure that the various views of students and parents are heard in schools.
The Bill also provides for schools to provide information to students and parents regarding voluntary contributions and how they are spent. While voluntary contributions can be requested by schools, it must be made absolutely clear to parents that there is no requirement to pay, and that, in making a contribution, they are doing so of their own choice. There is no compulsion to pay.
Where is a school meant to go when there is a shortfall between funding from the Department and its outgoings? There are two givens every year when it comes to back-to-school conversations among parents. One is the ironic statement that we have free education and the other is the equally ironic so-called voluntary contributions. It is ironic because in reality we know that they are neither voluntary nor a contribution. Sinn Féin introduced the Education (Voluntary Contributions) Bill 2021 to place a statutory obligation on the Minister to regulate the collecting of voluntary contributions from parents, to oblige schools to publish the total moneys collected annually and for the detail of the expenditure of those moneys to be provided. The Minister did not oppose the Bill but she kicked it down the road for nine months on the back of the Education (Student and Parent Charter) Bill, which is still on Committee Stage. Our Bill wanted greater transparency and accountability. More importantly, we ultimately wanted a prohibition on voluntary contributions, children being treated differently, directly communicated with for payment, denied access to lockers and to school journals, none of which would have been dealt with under the Education (Student and Parent) Charter Bill. I essentially have one question, which has a yes-no answer. Does the Minister support the abolition of voluntary contributions?
I want to be clear that section 64 of the Education Act, added to by the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018, explicitly prohibits the charging of admission and enrolment fees in our schools. No fee can be charged for instruction in any subject that is on the school curriculum. There is absolutely no charge for education from that point of view. The Deputy referred to schools that might face challenges. I want to be clear, as I articulated earlier, that significant funding is available to schools. We have seen increases in student capitation of more than 7.5% in the last couple of years. We have seen €90 million extra being made available, with a 40% uplift in the capitation fees being paid to schools. Regarding voluntary contributions, I want to be clear that there is absolutely no compulsion on parents and guardians to provide any type of contribution to the school. It is explicitly underlined in section 64 of the Education Act that education in its purest sense is free of charge.
Is the Minister aware that the Society of St. Vincent de Paul has commissioned Grant Thornton to conduct a survey to identify the current gaps in funding for all categories of post-primary schools? Last August, the organisation received 30 calls per hour from desperate parents. Fast forward to this year and schools and those in charge of their administration are finding it increasingly difficult to plug the gap in simply running a school. Whatever little reserves they had are being whittled down to nothing. The pressure is passed on to parents who, between the vastly increased cost of light and heat and putting food on the table and a roof over their heads, are under unprecedented financial pressure. Providing the very basics is increasingly a juggling act for many families between the cost of uniforms, shoes, tracksuits and runners. The cost of ring binders has increased 120% in recent years. Let us imagine the mental arithmetic that needs to come into play for parents trying to get one, two and possibly three children back to school in September. Does the Minister agree with the abolishment of voluntary contributions or does she support them?
I want to be very clear. The Government has been very cognisant of the demands placed on parents. The Deputy will be aware that this September the free schoolbooks programme will be rolled out in all our primary schools. We have had an expansion of DEIS with additional supports going into schools, and the hot school meals programme is being rolled out to our schools. School transport is another cost for parents. The Deputy will be very familiar with the fact that we have sought a considerable reduction at a cost of €50 at primary school level and €75 at post-primary level, with a maximum payment of €125 per family. Considerable efforts have been made by the Government to support families who are facing difficulties and that is across the board.
I want to be very clear about voluntary contributions. I was very clear when the €90 million in additional supports to schools was being made available. It is not at all preferable. I do not in any instance see why any parent should be asked to support a school with a voluntary contribution. The Deputy raised the point about schools finding it difficult to manage. If an individual school has an issue to manage, it is entitled to contact the financial support services unit, and schools do so. I visit schools the length and breadth of the country. The issue was acknowledged in the €90 million additional money made available to schools this year with regard to energy costs and the increase of 7.5% in capitation.
56. Deputy Michael Collins asked the Minister for Education if she will address the issue regarding almost 60 school projects being on hold due to funding issues including a school (details supplied) in Bantry, County Cork; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23209/23]
Almost 60 school building projects are on hold due to funding issues. One of the schools affected is Coomhola national school, Bantry, west Cork. The Minister might be able to outline when work will commence on the school's new classrooms.
The Department has a considerable record in the delivery of schools buildings. More than 180 projects were completed last year to the highest standards. This year alone 300 school building projects are on hand, including 40 new school buildings and 260 projects of additional accommodation of various types. Under Project Ireland 2040, we are investing €4.4 billion between now and 2025 to add capacity and develop and upgrade school facilities throughout the country for the almost 1 million students and 100,000 staff who attend our schools. Key priorities for the Department are supporting the operation of the school system and adding necessary capacity to cater for special education needs provision, mainstream demographics and catering for students from Ukraine and other countries under the international protection system.
As the Deputy will be aware, an agreement was secured with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform in recent weeks to guarantee and support the roll-out and continuation of the Department’s ambitious school building programme. The agreement reached on 5 April is facilitating the continued roll-out of urgently required school building projects in mainstream and special education settings, including projects that were temporarily paused. Officials from the Department have updated each of these schools on the formal arrangements and the next steps in respect of the delivery of their individual projects. The current status of all projects is listed on a county-by-county basis on gov.ie and is updated on a regular basis.
I wish to clarify that the school project to which the Deputy refers was not one of the projects temporarily paused due to capital funding pressures. The Department approved funding for the school under the additional school accommodation scheme. The project will provide two en suite mainstream classrooms and the responsibility for delivery of the project is devolved to the school itself. The project is at the design stage of the architectural planning process. The professional and technical officials in the Department have reviewed the school's design team submission and their recommendations have been shared with the school authority. Officials are engaging directly with the school to assist it in this regard to ensure this important project is progressed to the next stage of architectural planning and delivered as quickly as possible.
I thank the Minister for her reply. In 2020, the school in Coomhola, which is north of Bantry in west Cork, was approved for the building of a new classroom to replace two Portakabins, which are very unsuitable for long-term use as classrooms. As we know, Portakabins are cold and very damp in winter and too hot during warm weather. In August 2022, I wrote the Department on behalf of the school. The representation was acknowledged on 10 August by the Minister's private secretary but no work has commenced since then. The new classroom is urgently needed by this very progressive school. I thank all the staff and the board of management. They are very anxious that the building should be ready for the next school year beginning in September. Will the Minister give the people of Coomhola and the surrounding area a promise that the new classroom will be in place by 1 September 2023?
As I have outlined, the school accommodation project was approved in 2020 and it has devolved to the school authority. The project is at stage 1. I understand there site-specific challenges for the delivery of the school building project. However, following a review of the project's design team submission by the Department's professional and technical officials the project proposal was deemed viable subject to two technical recommendations on site services and other engineering-related issues. The school authority was advised of these comments and the Department is awaiting the design team's response. To expedite this response officials from the Department have engaged directly with the school authority to clarify the issues, following which the project is expected to progress to the next stage of design. Ultimately, as the Deputy will appreciate, it will progress to tender and construction thereafter as quickly as possible.
I thank the Minister for her reply. The extension for these two rooms was approved in 2020; it is now 2023. We are three years on and the Minister cannot tell me today when a sod will be turned on the project. She cannot tell me today that in the first week of September or late August when the children go back to the school it will have these two new classrooms in place. We will probably be looking at a four-year wait. I would like a date for this. The children and parents of Coomhola, the school and the board of management deserve to be treated better than having two cold and damp classrooms in Portakabins. I accept there is movement but it has been three years and now it looks like it could be four years. This is not acceptable to the people of west Cork. They should not be treated like second-class citizens. I appeal to the Minister to give me a date for when the works will start and end.
I accept and the Department accepts the need for the building to progress. I want to be clear that it has devolved to the school authority. It appears there are site-specific challenges. It appears there were two outstanding technical recommendations for the site. They have been communicated to the school authority. We await what further progress the school authority can make. It has been advised of the two challenges that have been raised. The Department is awaiting the design team's response. The Deputy will appreciate there are a number of stages that must be gone through to ensure that everything is as it should be and all of the demands and whatever the challenges might be can be overcome. Two specific challenges have been identified and the Department is awaiting the response of the design team on these. In the interim, to facilitate the school the Department has engaged directly with it to facilitating a positive outcome on the two specific challenges.
57. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Minister for Education about the case of more than 20 sixth class primary school children in Limerick who were issued rejection letters from the 11 post-primary schools that they applied for; to outline the steps that have been taken to date; the remaining steps that are to be taken to rectify this ongoing matter; and if a commitment can be given that such a distressing situation will not be repeated in advance of the next academic year. [22536/23]
In February 2019, I raised this issue with the then Minister for Education. I highlighted that the common application system in Limerick is unique. It requires sixth class students to list their schools in order of preference from one to 11. Imagine children being told there is no place for them and getting 11 rejection letters. The system is in place for the correct reason of avoiding the class-based selection system that existed in the city.
Unfortunately, it is not working for all students. When I raised this issue in 2019, I was dealing with one distressed child and his family. This year, more than 20 children received rejection letters from all of the schools they had put on their application forms.
I 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. To plan for school place needs, the Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and utilises a geographical information system to anticipate school place demand. Information from a range of sources, including child benefit data, school enrolment data and information on residential development activity, is used for this purpose. Additionally, Project Ireland 2040 population and housing targets inform the Department's projections of school place requirements.
The Minister will be aware there is a different system in Limerick - the common applications system.
I am. I know they have a joint system. Where forecasts indicate growing enrolments, the Department first considers available capacity within the existing schools. Where additional provision is needed, the options considered are the expansion of existing schools or the establishment of one or more new schools.
In response to the projections of school place needs in Limerick city, the Department is providing significant additional post-primary capacity, including new 1,000-pupil school buildings for two recently established schools, Mungret Community College and Limerick ETSS, new school buildings for Laurel Hill Secondary School FCJ, Laurel Hill Coláiste FCJ, Ardscoil Mhuire and Gaelcholáiste Luimnigh, as well as extensions at Castletroy College, Thomond Community College and Coláiste Mhichíl. These projects are providing state-of-the-art, modern accommodation to meet the needs of the growing number of post-primary students across Limerick city, including specifically designed provision to meet the needs of students with special educational needs.
As the Deputy will be aware, a common applications system operates to manage the admissions process for post-primary schools in Limerick city. This system has worked very effectively to meet post-primary school place needs and is successfully administered by the Limerick Education Centre, which I acknowledge. The Department has been in close engagement with the centre and school patrons regarding the admissions process for the 2023-24 school year and is aware of the current situation with respect to first-year places in Limerick.
The Department is also aware that a number of students did not initially receive an offer of a first-year place in a post-primary school in Limerick and identified a requirement for further increased provision at schools to meet this need. Following consultation, and arising in the first instance from the excellent co-operative approach taken by post-primary schools in the city, available capacity in Limerick city has risen significantly, with 11 of the schools having increased their available first-year places earlier this year, giving an additional capacity of more than 160 places.
The Minister will be aware from the common application process that we knew exactly how many children were going to be in need of school places in September. Unfortunately, there are children who received 11 rejection letters in February and they have absolutely no idea what school they are going to or if they are going to a school at all. Their peers and friends are excited about going to secondary school, as the Minister can imagine, given she is a teacher herself and knows exactly how it works. These people cannot even tell their friends, and some of the parents have not told the children yet that they have 11 rejection letters. They are telling them it was just a mistake and that it will be sorted out because they do not want to tell a 12-year-old child that there is no place for them at the moment.
I appreciate the Department is working behind the scenes to resolve the matter but the families are very stressed and they need clarity as to what is going on. As I said, they are in limbo. They have been told to hang on and that everything will be fine, but these families need more than that. They need some sort of clarity as to whether they will have a place in September for their children. More than 26 children have no place at the moment.
I acknowledge again that the common application system that operates in Limerick is a superb system and is one born of co-operation between all of the schools on the sharing of information. There is often a challenge where there are multiple applications across a number of systems. I want to acknowledge that in the first instance. I also want to acknowledge that, because of that system, issues were flagged in terms of the need for additional places. In that respect, there have been achievements, with 11 schools across Limerick city having agreed to increase their availability of first-year places to give an additional capacity of more than 160 places. In addition, both Thomond Community College and Limerick Educate Together Secondary School have recently agreed to take an additional class group each. This will increase available capacity by more than 50 first-year places. The 20 or more students to whom the Deputy is referring can be accommodated within this group and, in fact, it will mean there is additional free capacity of at least 20 places. It is considerable progress but, again, it has been helped by the common applications system.
If that is the case, and we are hearing rumours that there will be additional school places in Thomond College, which is the school I went to myself, I would be delighted with that. The Educate Together school is a brand-new school that has been built. One of the people I am dealing with lives two minutes from that school but has no place, and is not even on a waiting list, as far as I know. If those two schools come back with a class each, that will solve the problem.
As I have previously stated, the rationale for having this system in place in Limerick is sound. It was originally put in place to address the issues of inequality and exclusion and to ensure equality of selection, and for most children and schools it works quite well. However, we simply cannot have a repeat of this next year. It was traumatic enough in 2019 when one child did not get a place but we can imagine what it is like when they all get 11 rejection letters. It is incredible. We can imagine that a parent opens the 11 letters but can we imagine what it is like to be that child? I encourage the Department to review the system. We know exactly how many children are coming out of primary school and we know one or two will not go on to secondary school in Limerick, so we know how many places we need.
To be fair, we have seen considerable progress in Limerick and we are also seeing very considerable investment by the Department in either new school buildings or additional accommodation. I have listed them for the Deputy, whether it is the 1,000-pupil school buildings for two recently established schools, Mungret Community College and Limerick ETSS, the new school buildings for Laurel Hill, including the Gaelcholáiste aspect of Laurel Hill, Ardscoil Mhuire and Gaelcholáiste Luimnigh, as well as extensions at Castletroy College, Thomond Community College and Coláiste Mhichíl.
Specifically in terms of the additional places that have been made available, it is important to note that it would appear at this point that there will be additional capacity, rather than required capacity. I acknowledge both Thomond Community College and Limerick Educate Together secondary school in this regard and their agreement to add the additional classes.
I also point out that schools are required under the Education Act to offer places in line with their admissions policy and to work through their waiting lists accordingly. Where a student accepts one of the newly-created places but already has a place in a different school, that original place will become available. Overall, the additional capacity being provided in Limerick city is expected to meet the need for first year places. Nevertheless, the Department will continue to monitor the situation to ensure there are sufficient places available to meet the overall requirements.
