Tuesday, 16 Jan 2018

Written Answers Nos. 335-356

Technological Universities

Questions (335)

John Deasy

Question:

335. Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of meetings his Department has held separately or jointly with board representatives of Waterford Institute of Technology and Carlow Institute of Technology in 2017 at which the proposed south east technological university has been discussed. [54617/17]

Written answers

Minister of State at the Department of Education and Skills

I visited the Institute of Technology Carlow on 30 June 2017 and met with the Chairperson of the Governing Body, President and members of the Senior Management Team to discuss a range of matters relating to higher education including the development of a technological university for the South East (TUSE).

I also met with the Chairperson of Waterford Institute of Technology’s Governing Body on 20 September 2017. A number of matters relating to higher education, including the TUSE project, were discussed at the meeting.

The institutes of technology in a consortium lead on the progression of their plans to seek designation as a technological university.

The Government is supporting the progression of technological university development in both the advancement currently of the Technological Universities Bill through the legislative process and in the provision of significant Exchequer funding to the four consortia of institutes of technology currently involved in projects to develop technological universities.

Most recently in November 2017 my Department, through the Higher Education Authority (HEA), allocated some €4.64 million in funding across the relevant consortia. Further Exchequer funding has been allocated for TU development in 2018. The HEA interacts directly with all consortia in the context of the funding process for TU development.

In addition, in implementing the Systems Performance Framework for Higher Education, progress on the development of TU projects has been a key part of the HEA’s conversations with relevant individual institutions as part of the strategic dialogue process. Within this process, the HEA has provided detailed feedback to the institutions involved including those comprising the TUSE consortium.

School Accommodation Provision

Questions (336)

John Deasy

Question:

336. Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of prefabs in use in primary and secondary schools in County Waterford; the corresponding figures at the end of 2007 and 2012; and the current average cost per prefab to the Exchequer. [54618/17]

Written answers

Minister for Education and Skills

I wish to advise the Deputy that the number of rented prefabs in use in primary and post primary schools in County Waterford is as follows.

2007 - 48

2012 - 54  

2017 - 8

The current average rental cost of a prefab for mainstream classroom use is approximately €15,000 per annum.

Third Level Admissions Data

Questions (337)

John Deasy

Question:

337. Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Education and Skills the overall percentage of second level school students in each county who have gone on to third level education in the past ten years. [54619/17]

Written answers

Minister for Education and Skills

The information requested by the Deputy on progression rates to third level from post-primary by geographic area is not available. The Department calculates progression rates at overall national level only for the purposes of compiling projections of third level demand.

The most recent projections of demand for third level can be found on the Department's website at the following link:

www.education.ie/en/Publications/Statistics/Statistical-Reports/Projections-of-demand-for-full-time-Third-Level-Education-2015-2029.pdf

School Attendance Data

Questions (338)

John Deasy

Question:

338. Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number and percentage of students in each county who have dropped out of secondary education after the junior certificate and before the leaving certificate over the past ten years. [54620/17]

Written answers

Minister for Education and Skills

Information on the junior and leaving certificate retention rate by county is available in the attached table.

The latest information available is on the cohort of pupils who began post-primary education in 2010, and would have completed their Leaving Certificate and 2015 and 2016.

More detailed information in available in the retention reports published on the Department's website at the following link:

www.education.ie/en/Publications/Statistics/Statistical-Reports/Other-Statistical-Reports.html.

Retention Rates of Pupils in Second Level Schools (2001 Entry Cohort Onwards) by County, Statistical Indicator and Year

County	Indicator	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Carlow	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	800	842	863	804	838
Cavan	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	788	775	815	756	770
Clare	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	1388	1357	1332	1315	1384
Cork	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	6423	6611	6622	6398	6309
Donegal	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	2261	2337	2262	2162	2228
Dublin	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	14608	14486	14639	14627	13894
Galway	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	3066	3058	3292	3161	3139
Kerry	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	1956	1874	1980	1895	1890
Kildare	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	2341	2350	2500	2530	2599
Kilkenny	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	1175	1214	1220	1198	1180
Laois	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	812	814	792	806	718
Leitrim	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	460	446	410	454	427
Limerick	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	2547	2634	2652	2642	2587
Longford	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	585	594	615	593	563
Louth	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	1779	1770	1844	1843	1696
Mayo	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	1873	1803	1842	1810	1747
Meath	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	1673	1699	1831	1890	1817
Monaghan	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	909	942	889	926	864
Offaly	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	986	929	995	952	931
Roscommon	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	508	546	543	565	558
Sligo	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	926	772	824	859	799
Tipperary	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	2276	2205	2309	2277	2220
Waterford	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	1395	1462	1426	1422	1268
Westmeath	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	1303	1372	1298	1381	1351
Wexford	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	1908	1907	1959	2020	1891
Wicklow	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	1532	1667	1577	1662	1616
All Counties	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	56278	56466	57331	56948	55284
Carlow	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	96.6%	96.4%	96.5%	97.1%	95.8%
Cavan	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	97.2%	96.9%	96.4%	96.8%	97.0%
Clare	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	95.6%	95.4%	95.1%	94.6%	96.0%
Cork	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	95.7%	96.2%	94.8%	95.5%	97.2%
Donegal	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	96.2%	95.1%	96.0%	94.5%	96.6%
Dublin	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	95.9%	95.3%	94.6%	93.4%	95.1%
Galway	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	97.1%	95.6%	95.7%	95.5%	95.3%
Kerry	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	96.8%	96.5%	96.0%	96.1%	96.0%
Kildare	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	96.8%	96.0%	95.4%	95.1%	96.7%
Kilkenny	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	97.5%	97.4%	96.8%	96.5%	97.4%
Laois	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	95.4%	96.1%	94.6%	94.7%	95.4%
Leitrim	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	97.8%	96.9%	95.1%	95.2%	97.2%
Limerick	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	94.7%	94.6%	93.9%	93.2%	95.8%
Longford	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	93.8%	96.5%	95.1%	94.9%	95.4%
Louth	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	96.2%	95.3%	94.8%	93.4%	95.9%
Mayo	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	96.4%	96.9%	96.2%	95.2%	96.6%
Meath	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	95.9%	97.0%	94.7%	94.3%	95.0%
Monaghan	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	98.3%	96.3%	96.4%	94.3%	97.5%
Offaly	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	95.0%	96.9%	95.9%	94.3%	96.6%
Roscommon	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	97.0%	95.8%	93.9%	94.7%	96.3%
Sligo	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	97.2%	95.2%	94.8%	95.0%	95.9%
Tipperary	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	96.7%	95.5%	95.4%	95.0%	96.1%
Waterford	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	95.5%	94.7%	94.7%	94.0%	97.3%
Westmeath	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	95.0%	93.4%	94.6%	94.9%	94.4%
Wexford	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	96.0%	94.8%	94.6%	94.8%	95.8%
Wicklow	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	94.8%	95.7%	95.3%	94.2%	93.8%
All Counties	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	96.1%	95.7%	95.1%	94.5%	95.9%
Carlow	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	773	812	833	781	803
Cavan	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	766	751	786	732	747
Clare	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	1327	1295	1267	1244	1329
Cork	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	6147	6360	6278	6110	6132
Donegal	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	2175	2222	2172	2043	2152
Dublin	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	14009	13805	13848	13662	13210
Galway	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	2977	2923	3150	3019	2990
Kerry	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	1893	1808	1901	1821	1814
Kildare	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	2266	2256	2385	2406	2513
Kilkenny	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	1146	1182	1181	1156	1149
Laois	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	775	782	749	763	685
Leitrim	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	450	432	390	432	415
Limerick	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	2412	2492	2490	2462	2477
Longford	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	549	573	585	563	537
Louth	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	1711	1687	1748	1721	1626
Mayo	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	1806	1747	1772	1723	1688
Meath	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	1604	1648	1734	1782	1726
Monaghan	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	894	907	857	873	842
Offaly	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	937	900	954	898	899
Roscommon	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	493	523	510	535	537
Sligo	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	900	735	781	816	766
Tipperary	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	2201	2106	2203	2163	2133
Waterford	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	1332	1385	1350	1337	1233
Westmeath	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	1238	1281	1228	1311	1275
Wexford	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	1832	1808	1853	1915	1812
Wicklow	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	1452	1595	1503	1566	1516
All Counties	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	54065	54015	54508	53834	53006
Carlow	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	81.5%	78.0%	79.5%	85.7%	87.4%
Cavan	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	84.4%	85.8%	86.5%	87.7%	90.1%
Clare	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	83.5%	83.9%	85.3%	85.6%	91.7%
Cork	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	81.1%	81.4%	80.9%	84.8%	89.9%
Donegal	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	81.2%	80.7%	83.5%	84.9%	89.4%
Dublin	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	78.6%	79.1%	80.1%	81.7%	88.5%
Galway	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	83.4%	83.8%	83.0%	86.2%	90.1%
Kerry	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	82.9%	83.0%	83.0%	85.3%	91.3%
Kildare	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	82.2%	81.1%	82.8%	85.7%	90.7%
Kilkenny	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	80.9%	81.5%	83.8%	84.6%	91.1%
Laois	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	81.8%	83.8%	79.7%	82.3%	88.6%
Leitrim	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	88.9%	88.8%	85.9%	87.0%	91.6%
Limerick	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	80.1%	80.4%	79.9%	81.9%	88.8%
Longford	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	83.6%	85.9%	83.3%	89.4%	88.5%
Louth	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	82.9%	81.4%	80.9%	83.6%	89.0%
Mayo	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	86.0%	85.4%	87.3%	88.6%	92.4%
Meath	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	82.5%	84.3%	84.1%	87.0%	90.8%
Monaghan	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	82.1%	81.3%	85.6%	86.9%	91.2%
Offaly	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	80.5%	82.6%	84.3%	86.1%	88.8%
Roscommon	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	87.0%	83.5%	84.7%	86.7%	91.1%
Sligo	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	85.4%	83.2%	85.9%	87.8%	89.4%
Tipperary	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	83.9%	80.5%	83.0%	85.0%	90.9%
Waterford	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	84.0%	80.9%	83.2%	84.5%	90.7%
Westmeath	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	83.3%	81.1%	85.7%	88.0%	88.9%
Wexford	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	80.2%	80.0%	81.7%	85.5%	87.8%
Wicklow	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	76.7%	77.9%	79.6%	83.1%	87.4%
All Counties	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	81.3%	81.3%	82.2%	84.5%	89.5%
Carlow	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	652	657	686	689	732
Cavan	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	665	665	705	663	694
Clare	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	1159	1139	1136	1126	1269
Cork	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	5209	5381	5357	5426	5672
Donegal	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	1836	1886	1889	1836	1992
Dublin	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	11482	11458	11726	11950	12300
Galway	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	2557	2563	2732	2725	2828
Kerry	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	1622	1555	1643	1616	1726
Kildare	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	1924	1906	2070	2168	2357
Kilkenny	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	951	989	1022	1014	1075
Laois	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	664	682	631	663	636
Leitrim	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	409	396	352	395	391
Limerick	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	2040	2118	2119	2164	2297
Longford	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	489	510	512	530	498
Louth	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	1475	1441	1492	1541	1509
Mayo	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	1611	1540	1608	1604	1614
Meath	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	1380	1432	1540	1644	1650
Monaghan	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	746	766	761	805	788
Offaly	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	794	767	839	820	827
Roscommon	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	442	456	460	490	508
Sligo	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	791	642	708	754	714
Tipperary	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	1910	1775	1916	1935	2017
Waterford	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	1172	1183	1186	1202	1150
Westmeath	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	1085	1113	1112	1215	1201
Wexford	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	1530	1526	1601	1727	1660
Wicklow	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	1175	1299	1255	1381	1412
All Counties	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	45770	45845	47058	48083	49517

Contd.

County	Indicator	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
Carlow	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	801	790	802	791	863
Cavan	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	800	813	813	897	884
Clare	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	1402	1357	1353	1458	1454
Cork	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	6181	6213	6327	6750	6742
Donegal	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	2228	2158	2225	2226	2299
Dublin	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	13998	13828	13987	14445	14520
Galway	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	2979	3041	3043	3110	3200
Kerry	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	1776	1836	1884	1974	2001
Kildare	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	2561	2609	2709	2776	2923
Kilkenny	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	1124	1145	1114	1177	1211
Laois	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	778	813	730	678	742
Leitrim	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	404	431	448	434	436
Limerick	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	2459	2552	2525	2643	2656
Longford	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	586	596	638	598	624
Louth	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	1791	1780	1862	1890	1926
Mayo	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	1677	1654	1696	1699	1711
Meath	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	1843	1983	2030	2222	2431
Monaghan	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	871	842	874	862	890
Offaly	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	945	1022	1075	1189	1283
Roscommon	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	531	590	542	584	530
Sligo	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	760	783	801	795	856
Tipperary	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	2165	2172	2234	2345	2332
Waterford	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	1349	1386	1447	1414	1524
Westmeath	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	1319	1320	1345	1375	1367
Wexford	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	1959	1929	1928	2060	2068
Wicklow	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	1630	1580	1643	1696	1748
All Counties	Entrants to First Year of Junior Cycle (Number)	54917	55223	56075	58088	59221
Carlow	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	96.3%	94.9%	94.3%	94.6%	95.1%
Cavan	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	96.8%	96.1%	97.5%	96.0%	95.4%
Clare	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	95.5%	96.8%	97.9%	96.6%	96.8%
Cork	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	97.1%	97.7%	97.4%	97.3%	98.0%
Donegal	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	96.1%	97.0%	97.6%	96.2%	96.8%
Dublin	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	96.0%	96.7%	96.5%	96.6%	97.3%
Galway	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	95.7%	95.9%	96.7%	97.3%	97.7%
Kerry	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	96.3%	97.1%	96.6%	96.1%	97.8%
Kildare	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	96.8%	97.5%	97.5%	96.6%	97.7%
Kilkenny	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	98.2%	98.1%	98.2%	97.7%	98.3%
Laois	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	96.9%	96.7%	96.0%	96.5%	97.8%
Leitrim	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	97.0%	97.2%	98.2%	96.3%	97.5%
Limerick	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	96.2%	96.5%	96.6%	96.5%	97.5%
Longford	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	94.4%	96.0%	95.1%	95.7%	96.6%
Louth	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	96.5%	96.7%	97.2%	95.9%	97.5%
Mayo	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	97.1%	97.8%	96.8%	98.2%	97.9%
Meath	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	96.4%	97.8%	97.2%	96.6%	97.2%
Monaghan	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	97.0%	97.4%	97.1%	96.8%	97.3%
Offaly	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	96.5%	96.5%	96.9%	95.7%	97.6%
Roscommon	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	97.4%	95.4%	97.1%	95.2%	96.2%
Sligo	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	98.2%	98.6%	98.0%	97.4%	98.3%
Tipperary	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	97.0%	97.4%	97.1%	97.6%	97.6%
Waterford	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	97.5%	97.1%	96.5%	97.2%	96.5%
Westmeath	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	95.8%	96.0%	96.8%	95.3%	96.5%
Wexford	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	95.5%	97.1%	96.3%	96.3%	96.7%
Wicklow	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	94.1%	98.6%	96.8%	96.4%	97.5%
All Counties	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (%)	96.4%	96.9%	96.9%	96.7%	97.4%
Carlow	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	771	750	755	748	821
Cavan	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	774	781	793	861	843
Clare	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	1339	1313	1324	1408	1407
Cork	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	5999	6070	6161	6568	6608
Donegal	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	2141	2094	2171	2141	2225
Dublin	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	13435	13370	13498	13954	14127
Galway	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	2849	2915	2945	3026	3126
Kerry	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	1710	1782	1819	1897	1957
Kildare	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	2479	2543	2642	2682	2855
Kilkenny	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	1104	1123	1094	1150	1190
Laois	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	754	786	701	654	726
Leitrim	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	392	419	440	418	425
Limerick	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	2366	2462	2438	2550	2589
Longford	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	553	572	607	572	603
Louth	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	1728	1721	1809	1813	1877
Mayo	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	1628	1617	1642	1668	1675
Meath	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	1777	1939	1973	2146	2362
Monaghan	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	845	820	849	834	866
Offaly	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	912	986	1042	1138	1252
Roscommon	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	517	563	526	556	510
Sligo	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	746	772	785	774	841
Tipperary	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	2099	2116	2171	2289	2277
Waterford	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	1315	1346	1397	1374	1470
Westmeath	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	1264	1267	1302	1310	1319
Wexford	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	1871	1872	1857	1984	1999
Wicklow	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	1534	1558	1590	1635	1705
All Counties	First Year Entrants who sat the Junior Certificate (Number)	52902	53557	54331	56150	57655
Carlow	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	90.0%	84.9%	86.0%	84.6%	86.2%
Cavan	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	90.3%	88.8%	89.9%	91.4%	89.0%
Clare	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	90.2%	89.9%	89.6%	89.4%	91.5%
Cork	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	91.9%	90.9%	91.0%	91.8%	92.1%
Donegal	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	89.0%	90.6%	91.1%	91.1%	91.7%
Dublin	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	89.2%	89.1%	89.7%	88.6%	90.0%
Galway	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	90.0%	89.5%	90.2%	91.4%	91.2%
Kerry	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	92.0%	91.8%	92.5%	92.0%	93.2%
Kildare	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	91.7%	90.8%	92.1%	90.2%	91.8%
Kilkenny	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	94.2%	91.3%	91.6%	91.1%	92.8%
Laois	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	90.5%	89.7%	89.0%	90.3%	89.0%
Leitrim	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	91.4%	91.0%	92.6%	90.1%	91.1%
Limerick	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	89.7%	90.1%	90.6%	90.7%	91.3%
Longford	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	87.1%	88.9%	88.9%	90.1%	87.5%
Louth	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	89.6%	89.4%	92.1%	87.1%	91.1%
Mayo	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	91.8%	92.9%	90.0%	91.4%	91.9%
Meath	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	92.8%	92.9%	92.5%	91.7%	93.3%
Monaghan	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	90.7%	89.6%	91.2%	91.6%	92.3%
Offaly	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	88.1%	88.7%	90.9%	88.8%	91.0%
Roscommon	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	94.0%	90.9%	90.8%	90.2%	91.9%
Sligo	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	93.0%	92.3%	92.1%	91.1%	93.8%
Tipperary	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	90.4%	91.2%	91.6%	92.0%	92.8%
Waterford	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	92.6%	90.0%	90.7%	91.3%	91.1%
Westmeath	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	90.5%	90.0%	90.4%	89.5%	91.4%
Wexford	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	90.6%	91.7%	90.5%	90.6%	90.6%
Wicklow	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	86.1%	87.2%	89.0%	89.2%	91.5%
All Counties	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (%)	90.2%	90.1%	90.6%	90.2%	91.2%
Carlow	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	721	671	690	669	744
Cavan	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	722	722	731	820	787
Clare	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	1265	1220	1212	1303	1330
Cork	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	5677	5648	5756	6197	6209
Donegal	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	1983	1956	2027	2028	2107
Dublin	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	12483	12325	12540	12798	13068
Galway	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	2680	2723	2746	2843	2920
Kerry	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	1634	1686	1743	1816	1865
Kildare	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	2348	2368	2496	2504	2683
Kilkenny	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	1059	1045	1020	1072	1124
Laois	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	704	729	650	612	660
Leitrim	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	369	392	415	391	397
Limerick	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	2206	2300	2288	2397	2425
Longford	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	510	530	567	539	546
Louth	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	1605	1591	1714	1646	1754
Mayo	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	1539	1537	1526	1553	1573
Meath	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	1710	1843	1878	2038	2267
Monaghan	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	790	754	797	790	821
Offaly	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	833	906	977	1056	1168
Roscommon	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	499	536	492	527	487
Sligo	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	707	723	738	724	803
Tipperary	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	1957	1980	2046	2157	2165
Waterford	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	1248	1247	1312	1291	1388
Westmeath	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	1194	1188	1216	1231	1250
Wexford	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	1775	1768	1744	1866	1874
Wicklow	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	1403	1377	1462	1513	1600
All Counties	First Year Entrants who sat the Leaving Certificate (Number)	49621	49765	50783	52381	54015

Prior to the 2005 entry cohort the estimated rate of retention at second level corresponds to the estimated percentage of entrants to Junior Cycle in a given year who complete second level with a Leaving Certificate (including Leaving Certificate Applied) in publicly-aided school.

For all entry cohorts educational pathways outside the publicly-aided school system such as Youthreach and apprenticeship training are not taken into account.

For Further Information go to (http://www.education.ie/en/Publications/Statistics/Statistical-Report-s/Other-Statistical-Reports.html) See Background Notes

Education Funding

Questions (339)

John Deasy

Question:

339. Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Education and Skills the capital funding his Department has allocated to projects in County Waterford at primary, post-primary and third level since 1 January 2011. [54621/17]

Written answers

Minister for Education and Skills

Capital funding provided by my Department in respect of education sector projects in County Waterford for the period 1st January, 2011 to 31st December, 2017 is as follows:

Primary - €55m   

Post Primary - €15.7m

Third Level - €16.4m

TOTAL - €87.1m

The total amount excludes monthly unitary payments amounting to €1.2m that have been issued since mid-2014 in respect of PPP Schools Bundle 3 which comprises eight schools, one of which is located in Co Waterford.

Schools Building Projects Status

Questions (340)

John Deasy

Question:

340. Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to provide an extension at a school (details supplied) in County Waterford. [54622/17]

Written answers

Minister for Education and Skills

The school to which the Deputy refers is one of eight new schools which was delivered in March 2014 under the Department’s Schools Bundle 3 Public Private Partnership (PPP) programme.

It is my Department’s intention to provide an extension to the school to meet the demand for additional school accommodation in the area referred to by the Deputy.

In that context, a planning application to proceed with the extension has been lodged with Waterford City and County Council. My Department has since responded to a request for further information from the Council in that respect. Subject to the decision of the Council on the matter, it is our intention to then proceed to the final stages of preparing the project for construction and delivery.

DEIS Status

Questions (341)

Mick Barry

Question:

341. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Minister for Education and Skills the 257 schools which met the criteria for Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools, DEIS, status but did not receive it as reported in a newspaper (details supplied); and the location of each. [54649/17]

Written answers

Minister for Education and Skills

The 79 schools included in DEIS with effect from September 2017 are those whose level of disadvantage has been identified as those schools serving the highest concentrations of disadvantage among their pupil cohort and met the criteria for inclusion under DEIS Plan 2017. Schools which have not been included at this stage are those which have not been identified as having the highest levels of concentrated disadvantage amongst their pupil cohort, under the new identification model.

It is important to note that this was a first step in a process and the fact that a school was not included in September 2017 does not preclude its inclusion at a later date, should the assessment indicate a level of disadvantage that warrants additional supports.

In the context of future planning for DEIS and the preparation of briefing for the estimates process for Budget 2018 analysis was conducted as to the cost of extending DEIS further by admitting schools with levels below the highest concentrations of disadvantage. It was in the context of this cost analysis, for a possible extension of the DEIS scheme at lower concentrations of disadvantage, that the figure of 257 schools arose. There has been no question of excluding schools. It is important to note that these 257 schools did not meet the criteria of those schools admitted in September 2017.

In relation to the location of the 257 schools, the levels of disadvantage in individual schools is not in the public domain and release of this information would give rise to speculation as to the levels of disadvantage in individual schools. Therefore it is not possible to provide this information to you.

It is important to note that for the first time, I have introduced an objective, statistics based model for deciding which schools merit inclusion in the DEIS Programme, so that all stakeholders can have confidence that we are targeting extra resources at those schools with the highest concentrated levels of disadvantage. A detailed document explaining the methodology used in the Identification process is available on the Department’s website at www.education.ie/en/Schools-Colleges/Services/DEIS-Delivering-Equality-of-Opportunity-in-Schools-/DEIS-Identification-Process.pdf.

A further assessment of all schools taking account of updated school data and the HP Index, based on the 2016 National Census is currently underway. Schools are being advised to ensure that their POD/PPOD data is fully correct and up to date including Eircode which can now be recorded by schools on both POD and PPOD databases. It is intended to have the process completed by the end of Q1 2018.

This will allow new pupil data and the changes in the profile of small areas between 2011 and 2016 to be taken into account in measuring the profile of schools. Schools at the high threshold of disadvantage may be identified in this process. It is intended, subject to available resources, to bring any such additional schools into the scheme .

School Catchment Areas

Questions (342)

James Browne

Question:

342. Deputy James Browne asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of children from Wexford town’s secondary school catchment area who attend schools outside their residential catchment area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54652/17]

Written answers

Minister for Education and Skills

The information requested by the Deputy is not available in the format requested. As the Deputy may be aware, my Department uses a Geographical Information System to identify where the pressure for school places across the country will arise. The System 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. Where demographic data indicates that additional provision is required, the delivery of such provision is dependent on the particular circumstances of each case and may be provided through either one, or a combination of, the following:

- Utilising existing unused capacity within a school or schools

- Extending the capacity of a school or schools

- Provision of a new school or schools.

My Department is keeping the school planning areas across the country  under ongoing review to take into account of updated enrolment data and also the impact of capacity increases in the school planning areas.

Teacher Training Provision

Questions (343)

James Browne

Question:

343. Deputy James Browne asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to provide teachers and Special Needs Assistants, SNAs, with mental health training; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54653/17]

Written answers

Minister for Education and Skills

My Department promotes a comprehensive and whole-school approach in schools to the promotion of positive mental health focusing on the entire school community, including teachers and SNAs, as well as groups and individual young people with identified need.  This spans the curriculum in schools, whole-school ethos, quality of teaching, learning and assessment, student support and pastoral care, guidance counselling and the provision of professional development for teachers. It also involves accessing other supports such as educational psychology services.  Additionally, schools engage in a wide range of sport and cultural activities which provide an important opportunity for students to experience success and personal growth. The whole school staff shares responsibility for general student wellbeing.  

All primary initial teacher education programmes include psychology of education, sociology of education and curricular studies including the implementation of the Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) curriculum which is taught at all class levels. The SPHE curriculum provides particular opportunities to foster the personal development, wellbeing, and social and emotional health of the individual child.

The Wellbeing in Post Primary Schools Guidelines for Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention (2013) and Wellbeing in Primary Schools Guidelines for Mental Health Promotion (2015) provide a Framework for Schools to present in an integrated way the existing elements of good practice to promote positive mental health, and direct then to new practices as appropriate. They provide clear information for schools and for agencies supporting schools on how to address issues of mental health promotion.

Professional development training and supports are provided by my Department to support teachers in the promotion of Wellbeing and in addressing and dealing with mental health issues. These supports cover a continuum: from whole-school and classroom level, to support for some children and support for a few children. Continuing professional development is provided to primary and post-primary schools through the following services and supports:

- The National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) 

- Guidance Counselling service/provision 

- The National Council for Special Education Support Service (NCSE)

- Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST)

- Junior Cycle for Teachers (JCT).

Supports are also provided through Association of Teachers’ Education Centres in Ireland (ATECI) summer courses, Festival of Education in Learning and Teaching Excellence (Féilte), Irish Primary Principals Network (IPPN), National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD) and Centre for School Leadership.

A key theme of my Department’s Action Plan for Education 2016-2019 is the promotion of Wellbeing, with a number of objective and proposed actions specifically targeting the promotion of wellbeing in our school communities. These include:

- Publishing a Wellbeing Policy Statement in 2018 and commencing, as resources permit, a national programme to support all schools to implement the national Wellbeing in Post Primary Schools Guidelines for Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention (2013) and Wellbeing in Primary Schools Guidelines for Mental Health Promotion (2015)

- Implementing the new Junior Certificate area of learning entitled Wellbeing

- Extending Pupil Resilience and Teacher Classroom Management Programmes to all DEIS schools

- Increasing the capacity of NEPS by 65 educational psychologists to deliver an enhanced educational psychological service to schools

- Enhancing Guidance Counselling at second level

- Working closely with the Department of Health and others departments on the National Task Force on Youth Mental Health

- Support of wellbeing initiatives to ensure that mental resilience and personal wellbeing are integral parts of the education and training system.

Special Educational Needs Service Provision

Questions (344)

Thomas Byrne

Question:

344. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of an appeal by a school (details supplied) regarding its allocation of Special Needs Assistant, SNA, hours. [54657/17]

Written answers

Minister for Education and Skills

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE), which is an independent statutory agency, is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) for allocating a quantum of Special Needs Assistant (SNA) support for each school annually taking into account the assessed care needs of children qualifying for SNA support enrolled in the school. The NCSE operates within my Department's criteria in allocating such support.

The criteria by which SNA support is allocated to pupils is set out in my Department's Circular 0030/2014. In considering applications for SNA supports for individual pupils, the SENOs take account of the pupils' needs and consider the resources available to the school to identify whether additionality is needed or whether the school might reasonably be expected to meet the needs of the pupils from its current level of resources.

SNAs are not allocated to individual children but to schools as a school based resource.

Details of SNA allocations which have been made to schools for the 2017/18 school year have been published by the NCSE on their website at http://ncse.ie/statistics.

Where a school has received its allocation of SNA support for 2017/18, but wishes new enrolments or assessments to be considered, which were not taken into account when the initial allocation was made, they may continue to make applications to the NCSE.

The NCSE Appeals Process may be invoked in the following instances:

- a parent or a school where it is considered that a child was not granted access to SNA support on the grounds that Department policy was not met in accordance with Circular 0030/2014.

- a school may also appeal a decision, where the school considers that the NCSE, in applying Department policy, has not allocated the appropriate level of SNA supports to the school to meet the special educational and/or care needs of the child(ren) concerned.

All schools have the contact details of their local SENO and parents may also contact their local SENO directly to discuss their child's special educational needs, using the contact details available at http://ncse.ie/seno-contact-list.

As the matter raised in this question refers to a particular school, I have arranged for the NCSE to reply directly to the Deputy.

Teaching Qualifications

Questions (345, 346)

James Browne

Question:

345. Deputy James Browne asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to ensure that third level students with leaving certificate grades are not subject to a new grading system that may cause them distress as they intend to pursue a professional master of education, primary, and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54684/17]

James Browne

Question:

346. Deputy James Browne asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to allow an exemption for students who commenced third level education prior to September 2017 with the aim of progressing into a professional master of education; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54685/17]

Written answers

Minister for Education and Skills

I propose to take Questions Nos. 345 and 346 together.

I understand that the Deputy is referring to the criteria for entry to primary Initial Teacher Education.

In addition to the CAO points required (in the case of the Bachelor of Education) or the third level award requirement (in the case of the Postgraduate Masters in Education) for entry to programmes of primary Initial Teacher Education, my Department specifies minimum entry requirements in the core subjects: Maths, English and Irish. This is to ensure that primary teachers have the capacity to lead in these significant areas of student learning.

In October 2017, I announced changes to these minimum entry requirements, as follows:

Entry 2018 - Irish: H5, English: H7/O5, Maths: H7/O6

Entry 2019 and entry 2020 - Irish: H4, English: H7/O4, Maths: H7/O4

The changes that I introduced took account of advice to me provided by the Teaching Council, which had engaged in a consultation process around a number of matters relating to entry to initial teacher education. Many of the issues identified were complex and the Council commissioned the ESRI to carry out a research to inform its deliberation.

The changes also had regard to the Department’s policy “Supporting a Better Transition from Second Level to Higher Education – Implementation and Next Steps” (2015).

In determining the revised entry requirements, care was taken not to disadvantage those students who have already commenced the senior cycle and who intend sitting the Leaving Certificate examinations in 2018. Accordingly, I decided that the minimum entry grades for entry to primary Initial Teacher Education programmes should be increased for 2019 and 2020, rather than from 2018.

The revision of entry criteria for primary initial teacher education is part of a wider range of actions being implemented or developed to achieve the objective of developing the continuum of teacher education to equip teachers with the right skills for 21st century teaching and learning, and the overall vision of making the Irish education and training system the best in Europe over the next decade.

Further changes to the minimum entry requirements from 2021 onwards will be considered in the light of experience, relevant policy developments and following consultation with relevant stakeholders.

I do not plan to further adjust the minimum entry requirements or to allow exemptions to the requirements in advance of this.

Minor Works Scheme Applications

Questions (347)

Robert Troy

Question:

347. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Education and Skills the grant aid assistance through the minor works programme which will be allocated to a school (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54707/17]

Written answers

Minister for Education and Skills

I am pleased to advise that on 5th December, 2017 I announced the Minor Works Grant 2017/2018 for primary schools across the country and payment issued to the school referred to by the Deputy on 12th December, 2017.

The funding will allow minor works to be carried out on the physical infrastructure of schools or on the purchase of items of furniture and equipment.

School Funding

Questions (348)

Robert Troy

Question:

348. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Education and Skills the grant aid opportunities which are available to primary schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54708/17]

Written answers

Minister for Education and Skills

Funding for primary schools is dealt with on a per capita basis. The two main grants are the capitation grant to cater for day to day running costs such as heating, lighting, cleaning, insurance, general up-keep etc., and the ancillary services grant to cater for the cost of employing ancillary services staff.

The following are links to the most recent circulars published on my Department's website in relation to capitation and ancillary grants:

www.education.ie/en/Circulars-and-Forms/Active-Circulars/cl0078_2017.pdf.

www.education.ie/en/Circulars-and-Forms/Active-Circulars/cl0028_2016.pdf.

The Primary Payments Grant Calendar which outlines additional grants payable to primary schools is published on my Department's website and is available at:

www.education.ie/en/Schools-Colleges/Services/Grants-and-Additional-Support/primary-grant-calendar-2017-2018.pdf.

Schools Building Projects Status

Questions (349)

Paul Kehoe

Question:

349. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of a school building project (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54720/17]

Written answers

Minister for Education and Skills

In July 2017 the Stage 2b (Detailed Design) for this project was approved, pending the completion of the process to carry out a shortlisting of suitably qualified building contractors and sub-contractors. The relevant shortlisting contract notices were posted to the Official Journal of the European Community (OJEU) and the Government's E-tenders website on 27 September and 8 October respectively. Tenders for this shortlist are currently being reviewed and the Prequalification process is nearing completion.

My Department anticipates that, following the tender process to appoint a Building Contractor, this project will go on site and commence construction in the first half of 2018.

Schools Building Projects Status

Questions (350)

Darragh O'Brien

Question:

350. Deputy Darragh O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the provision of a new secondary school for Swords, County Dublin, as announced in November 2015; if locations for the proposed school have been identified; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54723/17]

Written answers

Minister for Education and Skills

The proposed location for the new post-primary school referred to by the Deputy is in Mooretown, Swords.

This school building project is on my Department's Rapid Design & Build Programme and the project is currently at architectural planning stage.

Schools Site Acquisitions

Questions (351)

Darragh O'Brien

Question:

351. Deputy Darragh O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the provision of a new secondary school for the Malahide and Portmarnock areas of County Dublin as announced in November 2015; if locations for these proposed schools have been identified; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54724/17]

Written answers

Minister for Education and Skills

As the Deputy is aware, a project to provide permanent accommodation for the new post primary school to serve Malahide/Portmarnock is included on my Department's Capital Programme.

Officials in my Department are working with officials in Fingal County Council in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding in relation to the identification and acquisition of a suitable site for this school and the process is ongoing. 

My Department has been in contact with the school patron to appraise them of progress in this regard. 

Schools Site Acquisitions

Questions (352)

Darragh O'Brien

Question:

352. Deputy Darragh O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the provision of a permanent site for a school (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54725/17]

Written answers

Minister for Education and Skills

As the Deputy is aware, the project to provide permanent accommodation for the school in question is included on my Department's Capital Programme.

Officials in my Department are working with officials in the relevant local authority in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding in relation to the identification and acquisition of a suitable site for this school and the process is ongoing. 

My Department is in contact with the school patron to appraise them of progress in this regard.

Schools Site Acquisitions

Questions (353)

Darragh O'Brien

Question:

353. Deputy Darragh O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the provision of a new site for a school (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54726/17]

Written answers

Minister for Education and Skills

The site for the school referred to by the Deputy has recently been purchased by the St. Laurence O’Toole Diocesan Trust on behalf of the Board of Management for the school.

The site purchase was completed in October 2017.

Officials from my Department will shortly be in contact with the school regarding the timeframe for progression of this project.

Schools Site Acquisitions

Questions (354)

Darragh O'Brien

Question:

354. Deputy Darragh O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of a new school building project for a school (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54727/17]

Written answers

Minister for Education and Skills

As the Deputy is aware the building project for the school in question is included on my Department's capital programme.

A new school site is required to accommodate this project and officials in my Department have been in contact with the school patron and trustees in relation to the site acquisition.

Schools Building Projects Status

Questions (355)

Darragh O'Brien

Question:

355. Deputy Darragh O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills when the next phase of the school building project for a school (details supplied) in County Dublin will commence; the status of this project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54728/17]

Written answers

Minister for Education and Skills

I am pleased to inform the Deputy that construction commenced on the 3rd January 2018 on the school referred to by him.

Subject to no issues arising it is envisaged that construction will take approximately 18 months.

Schools Site Acquisitions

Questions (356)

Darragh O'Brien

Question:

356. Deputy Darragh O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the provision of a new site for a school (details supplied) as announced in November 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54729/17]

Written answers

Minister for Education and Skills

As the Deputy is aware, a project to provide permanent accommodation for the school in question is included on my Department's Capital Programme.

Officials in my Department continue to liaise with officials in the relevant local authority in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding in relation to the acquisition of a suitable site for this school.  Discussions with relevant parties regarding the potential acquisition of a preferred site option are currently in progress with a view to advancing matters as expeditiously as possible.

While I am not in a position to provide further information at this time, I can assure the Deputy that my Department is in communication with the school patron and representatives to keep them appraised of progress and they will be informed of the proposed location as soon as it is possible to do so.