Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 21 November 2018
131. Deputy Brendan Ryan asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to provide schools in the Cherrywood area; the timeline for delivery of schools; when the public consultation processes will open for the patronage of each of the schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48454/18]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, the Government recently announced plans for the establishment of 42 new schools over the next four years (2019 to 2022), including two new primary schools (to be established in 2020 and 2022) and one new post-primary school (to be established in 2021) to serve the Sallynoggin_Killiney_DLR (Cherrywood) school planning area. This announcement follows nationwide, demographic exercises carried out by my Department into the future need for primary and post-primary schools across the country and the 4-year horizon will enable increased lead-in times for planning and delivery of the necessary infrastructure.
A patronage process is run after it has been decided, based on demographic analysis, that a new school is required. This patronage process is open to all patron bodies and prospective patrons. Parental preferences for each patron, from parents of children who reside in the school planning areas concerned, together with the extent of diversity currently available in these areas, are key to decisions in relation to the outcome of this process.
The patronage process for new schools is overseen by an external independent advisory group, the New Schools Establishment Group (NSEG). Following their consideration of my Department’s assessment reports, the NSEG submits a report with recommendations to me for consideration and final decision. The assessment reports and the NSEG recommendations for all such patronage processes are made available on my Department's website.
An Online Patronage Process System (OPPS) has been developed by my Department to provide objective information to all parents which will allow them to make an informed choice about their preferred model of patronage for their child’s education. Parental preferences were previously collected based on direct engagement with patron bodies.
The patronage process for 12 of the primary schools to be established in 2019 has commenced. The patronage process for the remaining schools, including the schools referred to by the Deputy, will also be run at a later date, significantly ahead of their due opening. Updates in relation to further patronage processes will be announced on the OPPS website and the Department’s websitewww.education.ie.
An initial phased start-up is envisaged for the new schools, which typically involves the use of interim accommodation. However, this is the first time the requirement for new schools is set out over a 4-year horizon and this will provide a better lead-in period for the planning and delivery of permanent accommodation solutions. Following on from the announcement, the locations for all of the schools will be determined as part of the site acquisition process.
The new primary school due to be established in 2020 to serve the Sallynoggin_Killiney_DLR/Cherrywood school planning area is currently at Planning compliance stage. When planning compliance is met, the project will proceed to tender stage. This is expected to be before the end of the year or early 2019, for delivery in 2020. Site acquisition processes in respect of the remaining two schools referred to by the Deputy are currently underway and are being progressed in line with accommodation provision requirements.
