School Enrolments

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 January 2015

Tuesday, 27 January 2015

Questions (119)

Catherine Murphy

Question:

119. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Education and Skills her views on establishing a forum on school enrolment in north Kildare considering the major obstacles which have arisen in recent years; her views on whether such a forum is useful in establishing a full appreciation of parental choice in the area; if it will assist in achieving greater diversity, particularly with regard to Gaelscoil provision; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3370/15]

Oral answers (6 contributions)

Deputy Catherine Murphy

This question has a local focus. I am sure north Kildare is not exclusive in terms of the types of problem that have presented in my area every year for as long as I have been involved in politics. I dread it when they open the lists and parents find that their children will not get into the primary or secondary schools they would prefer. Too often, parents feel excluded from the process. They are included in some respects, but the focus of it is very narrow. We need to have a wider forum, and north Kildare might be the place to do a pilot under which the relationship between schools and parental choice could be explored to allow us to work towards eliminating this problem on an ongoing basis.

Deputy Jan O'Sullivan

Between 2012 and 2015, five new schools will have been established to meet demographic needs in the north Kildare area. This includes the establishment of a Gaelscoil and an all-Irish aonad in a new post-primary school to enhance provision though the medium of Irish in the area. The patronage of all these new schools was determined by an open process in which the level of parental demand for each type of school was a key factor. In addition, parents in Celbridge were surveyed under the patronage divesting process to determine their views on alternative patronage choices in their area. Therefore, I have no plans to establish a forum on school enrolment in north Kildare. A recent nationwide demographic review carried out in my Department concluded that there is no additional primary educational infrastructural needs in the north Kildare area beyond that recently delivered or already planned and in train to meet the area's needs. An equivalent review at post-primary level is under way.

Deputy Catherine Murphy

As the Minister and the Acting Chairman, Deputy Keating, will be aware, seven primary schools in the north Kildare area, including some on the periphery of that area, feed into the second level Gaelcholáiste in Lucan. In 2015, not one single solitary student from those schools will be accommodated in Lucan because there is simply no space at the school there. The aonad that is being provided as a substitute for the Gaelcholáiste option that was available before now is completely unacceptable to the vast majority of people. Not one single solitary place will be available to the children who will come out of the seven sixth classes in these schools in September and want to go on and study entirely through Irish. Such an option has been available up to now. The aonad is a complete insult to people. The Minister really needs to stop listening to the officials in her Department on this issue and start listening to people in north Kildare. I do not know where she is getting her numbers from. The open process that took place in the case of the post-primary school in Maynooth was a very limited process.

People want to see diversity in primary school education. That diversity should include cultural diversity. I have surveyed all the north Kildare schools and Gaelscoileanna. The provision in those schools is totally inadequate. I know they have to exist side by side with the other schools. A sustainable solution must be found. The numbers being collected by the Department are wrong. We are going to put parents through unnecessary hardship as they worry about where their children will go to school. The Department will have to find a solution at the 11th hour. A much more comprehensive approach is needed. This area has one of the largest young populations in the country. That is why this is such a pivotal issue. The Minister is going to be inundated with correspondence from parents. She already is. I know I am. It is only the first school that has opened up. Essentially, all this argy-bargy will be going on. I believe the solution that will ultimately be found will include a third stream in Kilcock, for example. It will be resisted until the last minute. The forum is absolutely essential if we are to get any kind of understanding, rather than presuming everything is in place. The aonad is just an insult to parents who used to have a choice. The choice is being taken away and they are being told an aonad is the replacement. It is not good enough.

Deputy Jan O'Sullivan

I assure the Deputy that the situation remains under continual review. Obviously, what she has said today will be brought back to the Department. The post-primary review is under way. The Deputy raised the post-primary issue. I can come back to the Deputy on how that review is progressing, etc. It is under way. I acknowledge that County Kildare is very much a growing demographic area. When I served as Minister of State with responsibility for housing, that was a huge issue in the county as well. This issue is under constant review. One of the commitments my predecessor made, and I make as well, is that we want a place for every child. We do not want any child not to have a place. Obviously, that is our obligation. I will go back again after the Deputy has raised this issue today specifically in relation to County Kildare.

Deputy Catherine Murphy

There have been public meetings of hundreds of people who want a choice for their children. I attended one such meeting in Kilcock last week. The point is being made about having a place for every child, but parents do not want just any place. They want a choice in education. For example, there are 160 applications for 52 places. It would have been 83 or 84 places with the three streams, as was the case last year. It is not that there is a shortage of children.

When it comes to cultural diversity and Irish being the country's first language, it is extraordinary that so many children will be denied their first-choice places next year, 100 years after the Easter Rising. I do not understand the Department's resistance. From my experience with my children in the early 1980s when Irish schools started to become established in north Kildare, the schools were fought all the way by the Department in terms of recognition and buildings. Now, parents are queuing to get their children into successful schools, but they are not being given the choice. This issue must be taken seriously. It is not just a question of denominational choice, but of cultural choice.

Deputy Jan O'Sullivan

The intention is to give people those choices. The Deputy described what happened in the past, but Gaelscoileanna and Gaelcholáistí around the country have been recognised, have their own patron bodies and are well established. There is no unwillingness on the part of the Government or the Department to support that choice.

The Deputy's point is that there are not enough places in the schools that parents wish their children to attend. The Department must update its data on this issue constantly and respond to it as quickly as we can. Generally, we are responding well to demographic changes and we are replacing prefabs. This is the Department's policy, but if growing numbers in a particular area are causing a problem, we want to deal with it. We have a great deal of data in terms of younger children and the likely demands in particular areas.

The Deputy has raised a serious issue. It is under ongoing review, so I will ensure that we are providing for the young people of north Kildare and Kildare in general.