School Enrolments.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 July 2006

Tuesday, 4 July 2006

Questions (62, 63, 64)

Emmet Stagg

Question:

61 Mr. Stagg asked the Minister for Education and Science if her attention has been drawn to the fact that the appeals committee operating under section 29 of the Education Act 1998, has recently granted an appeal by the parents of two pupils who had earlier been refused enrolment to a school (details supplied) in County Kildare; if her attention has further been drawn to the fact that more than 200 parents have lodged section 29 appeals against refusal of enrolment in the school; her views on fully opening all classes in this school to the pupils seeking enrolment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25886/06]

Emmet Stagg

Question:

127 Mr. Stagg asked the Minister for Education and Science if her attention has been drawn to the fact that her Department has provided figures to the effect that 40 pupils cannot be accommodated in the national schools in Naas while in a reply she informed the House that there were sufficient places for all applying students there; and if, in view of this situation she will agree to the new primary school (details supplied) in Naas being fully opened in September 2006 thereby allowing this school to develop and operate its own enrolment policy in accordance with the Education Act 1998 and to give parents the opportunity to send their children to the school of their choice in accordance with the Act. [25887/06]

Bernard J. Durkan

Question:

759 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Education and Science if her attention has been drawn to communication submitted to her Department by the respective authorities at the various primary schools in Naas, County Kildare in the context of achieving full operational capacity of a school (details supplied); her plans to achieve this target; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26448/06]

Written answers

Minister for Education and Science (Ms Hanafin)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 61, 127 and 759 together.

The new school to which the Deputy refers was provided to meet the growing need for extra primary provision in Naas. It was not provided to replace temporary accommodation in existing schools or to reduce their capacities. This matter is being dealt with separately. Therefore the question of transferring pupils to the newly built school should not have arisen particularly if all of the schools had worked together to implement appropriate enrolment policies.

As the Deputy will be aware, the new school to which he refers opened in September 2005. It currently accommodates two junior infant classes. When fully occupied, the school will operate as a two-stream 16-classroom school. To enable it develop in this manner, it can only enrol two junior infant classes annually. This incremental development is common to all newly established schools to ensure that a shortage of accommodation at the school is avoided by an over enrolment in the early stages and crucially, to ensure that the enrolments and staffing levels in other schools in the area, where older pupils would inevitably be drawn, are not adversely affected.

Notwithstanding this position and as an exceptional matter, the school has been given approval to enrol three junior infant classes for the next school year on the grounds that this will not impact negatively on the other schools in question. It has also been allowed to enrol pupils in other classes if a place is not available for such pupils in existing schools. To be abundantly clear on this particular issue, when I stated earlier this year that there were sufficient pupil places in these schools, this was the information available to my Department from those schools at that time. There was no attempt on either my behalf or that of my Department to mislead the House in this regard.

When my Department was subsequently informed that up to 40 pupils could not be accommodated by the existing schools, it was at that point that it gave its approval to allow those pupils to enrol in the school to which the Deputy refers.

If other eligible pupils move into the area during the new school year, I expect them to be likewise accommodated in the school in question.