Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 November 2012
296. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Education and Skills the projected enrolling figures used by his Department for prioritisation on the capital schools building programme in relation to a school (details supplied) for the years 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52463/12]
View answerA new school on a new site is planned for the school to which the Deputy refers and the Department is currently in the process of acquiring the site. A review of the final project brief is now being undertaken. Following that, the project will be progressed through Architectural Planning in the context of the available funding.
As enrolment increases are not uniformly distributed nationally, my Department has carried out a study of the country including the area referred to by the Deputy, using data from the Central Statistics Office, the General Register Office and the Department of Social Protection in addition to recent schools' enrolment data to identify the areas it is projected that there will be significant future enrolment increases. The information used is the most accurate and up-to-date information available. The area to which the Deputy refers is serviced by sixteen primary schools. Based on an analysis of the data referred to above, primary level enrolments for this area look set to remain relatively stable up to 2018.
Due to competing demands on the Departments capital budget imposed by the need to prioritise the limited funding available for the provision of additional school accommodation to meet increasing demographic requirements, it was not possible to include this project in the 5 year construction programme announced in March.
