Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 March 2014
352. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 121 of 21 March 2012, if he will review the decision not to progress this project to tender and construction in view of the fact that the community served by the school grew by 38% in the last census; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13588/14]
View answerThe Deputy will be aware that the overriding objective of Education capital expenditure is to meet the demographic challenge facing the education system whereby total pupil enrolment in both primary and post-primary schools is expected to grow by around 107,000 additional pupils between 2012 and 2019 - over 70,000 at primary level and over 35,000 at post primary - and will continue to rise at post-primary level to the year 2026 at least. The 5 Year Construction Plan prioritises major school projects in areas where future significant demographic changes have been identified. In that regard, it was not possible to progress all school building projects concurrently. This school project in addition to other school projects that are currently within the Department's architectural planning process, but which were not included in the Five Year Plan, are being progressed to the final planning stages in anticipation of further funding becoming available to my Department in future years. However, I am not in position to provide an indicative timeline for the progression of those projects to construction stage at this time.
