Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 January 2021
459. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Education if she will commit to increasing the number of second-level places by 2022 by prioritising the building of schools (details supplied) in addition to the extension to a school. [45052/20]
View answerI wish to advise the Deputy that my Department is aware of increasing pressures and demand for additional post-primary school places in a number of school planning areas, including the school planning areas referred to by the Deputy.
Where capacity issues arise it may not be as a result of lack of accommodation but may be driven by the following factors:
- Duplication of applications – pupils have applied for a place to a number of schools in the area
- School of choice – pupils can’t get a place in their preferred school while there are places in other schools in the town/area
- Some towns/areas have single sex schools and while places are available in the school there are not available to all pupils
- External draw – pupils coming from outside the local area
Until these issues are discussed with the relevant school authorities, the true extent of any capacity issue will only become known.
Similar to the process adopted in advance of the current academic year, my Department is engaging with patron bodies, including in the areas in question, to identify particular capacity requirements for the forthcoming year(s) which may necessitate action.
The projects for the first two schools referred to by the Deputy are being delivered under my Department's Design & Build programme. The tender process to establish the new Design & Build Contractors Framework commenced on the 4 December 2019. The second stage of the tender process which involves the detailed tender for several schools has commenced and is expected to be concluded in Quarter one 2021.
The building project for the first school referred to by the Deputy is included in the first bundle of projects currently being tendered to this new Framework. This is the earliest that the project can be tendered.
It is my Department’s intention that the construction of the new 1,000 pupil school will be phased to provide permanent accommodation as early as possible in the 2021/22 school year with the second phase of the new school being completed before the start of the 2022/23 school year.
The project for the second school referred to by the Deputy is at planning stage. A Notification to Grant planning was received on 4 December 2020 and the final grant of planning is now awaited. As with all school building projects, the exact timeframe for delivery of the school will be dependent on the grant of planning permission. It is intended that this project will proceed to tender as early as possible in 2021.
The project for the third school referred to by the Deputy will provide for a long-term projected enrolment of 1,000 students, and is currently at Stage 1 of Architectural Planning – Site Suitability, Site Report and Initial Sketch Scheme.
