Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 November 2020
464. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Education if concerns raised at the beginning of November 2020 by many parents in Drogheda, County Louth, in respect of the over-subscription of a school (details supplied) will be addressed; if assistance will be provided on the matter; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35181/20]
View answerI wish to advise the Deputy that my Department has no record of receiving correspondence from the school authority in question in relation to the issue raised.
In quantifying the specific requirements for September 2021, the Department is in the final throes of concluding its nationwide demographic exercises to determine where additional school accommodation is needed at primary and post-primary level across the 314 school planning areas through a Geographical Information System. The GIS uses data from a range of sources, including Child Benefit Data from the Department of Employment Affairs & Social Protection and the Department's own school enrolment databases, to identify where the pressure for school places across the country will arise.
The process has been strengthen this year through three specific initiatives:
(i) enhanced engagement with local authorities in relation to the information on residential development incorporated in the analysis process;
(ii) additional engagement with patron bodies in relation to their local knowledge on school place requirements. Education and Training Boards, Diocesan offices and national patron bodies such as Educate Together, An Foras Pátrúnachta etc. can be an important source of local knowledge. This will add to information also provided to the Department by local authorities or individual schools.
(iii) Utilising the information gleaned from schools under the national inventory of school capacity completed by individual schools last year as part of POD, P-POD returns process.
Similar to the process adopted for September 2020 readiness, the Department will be engaging further with patron bodies in November/December in advance of identifying specific September 2021 capacity pressure points priorities which will necessitate action.
