I wish to advise the Deputy that the key statistics for the 2016/17 school year were published on the 30th June, 2017 on my Department's website. In the 2016/17 school year, there were 352,257 second level pupils in 711 second level schools. This information is available in the key statistics release at the following link:
http://www.education.ie/en/Publications/Statistics/Key-Statistics/Key-Statistics-2016-2017.pdf
In addition, the “Projections of Full-Time Enrolment Primary and Second Level (2017 - 2035)” publication outlines my Department’s projections up to 2035 and is available at the following link: http://www.education.ie/en/Publications/Statistics/Statistical-Reports/Projections-full-time-enrolment-Primary-and-Second-Level-2017-2035.pdf
My Department uses a Geographical Information System (GIS) to identify where the pressure for school places across the country will arise. In order to plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data, my Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas. The GIS uses data from a range of sources, including the Central Statistics Office, Ordnance Survey Ireland, the Department of Social Protection and my Department's own databases. With this information, my Department carries out nationwide demographic exercises at primary and post-primary level to determine where additional school accommodation is needed.
My Department's six year Capital Programme prioritises building projects to meet demographic demand. The Capital Programme also provides for devolved funding for additional classrooms, if required, for schools where an immediate enrolment need has been identified or where an additional teacher has been appointed.
In the case of new schools, my Department has published guidelines to assist in the identification and the assessment for suitability of new sites for schools where the procurement of a new site is required. The relevant guidelines are TGD-025 for Primary School site identification and TGD-027 for Post-Primary site identification. All technical guidelines are available on the Department of Education and Skills website.
These guidelines are not intended to be prescriptive and cover a number of technical criteria to be taken into account when appraising the suitability and development potential of a site for a new school relative to other available options. Both documents refer to guidelines for green space provision. However, in higher density urban developments the optimum site area may not be available and green space guidelines are subject to space availability.
