Pat Buckley
Question:846. Deputy Pat Buckley asked the Minister for Education if her Department has plans to build a new additional secondary school in Midleton, County Cork; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19692/22]
View answerTuesday, 26 April 2022
Questions (846)
Written answers
For school planning purposes, the Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and uses a Geographical Information System (GIS) to anticipate school place demand. Information from a range of sources, including Child Benefit Data, school enrolment data and information on residential development activity is used for this purpose. Additionally, Project Ireland 2040 population and housing targets inform the Department’s projections of school place requirements. Having considered the projected requirements in each school planning area, the Department then makes an assessment of the existing capacity within that particular area and its ability to meet any increased demand.
Where data indicates that additional provision is required at primary or post primary level, the delivery of such additional 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.
The Department's projections of post primary school place requirements in East Cork show an anticipated continued growth in enrolments in the short- to medium-term.
In response to meeting the demand for projected future demographic demand in the area, a new post-primary school, Carrigtwohill Community College, was established in 2016. A project to deliver a new, modern 1,000 pupil permanent school building for the school is underway. The building project for Carrigtwohill campus will accommodate two primary schools and a new 1,000 pupil post-primary school building for Carrigtwohill Community College and is being delivered under the Department’s Design and Build Programme. This delivery programme uses a professional external Project Management team to progress the project through the stages of architectural planning, tendering and construction.
The Letter of Intent (LOI) issued on the 15th of February 2022 to the preferred tenderer. This allows the preferred bidder to put in place the Bond, Insurances and confirmations of all legal arrangements required under the Contract. Following receipt of all the necessary documentation, the Department will be in a position to issue the Letter of Acceptance (LOA), which will allow the contractor to mobilise on site. My Department will advise the Board of Management when the Letter of Acceptance issues.
Once the successful contractor is appointed, the Department’s project manager will liaise with the contractor to ensure that the Community College is prioritised and delivered as early as possible within the Contractor’s Programme of Works for the campus.
In the meantime, additional accommodation has been approved for Carrigtwohill Community College for September 2022 which includes 6 general classrooms, a home-economics room, SEN Class and ancillary accommodation. This accommodation is being delivered by Cork ETB.
The Department’s school building programme also provides for devolved funding for additional classrooms, including accommodation for pupils with special educational needs, if required, for schools where an additional enrolment need has been identified or where an additional teacher has been appointed.
An extension at St. Colman's Community College, Midleton has recently been completed to cater for up to 1,000 pupils. A number of other large scale school building projects are also in train to cater for similar pupil numbers. This includes expanded capacity at Christian Brothers Secondary School and St. Mary's High School in Midleton. In addition, St. Aloysius College, Carrigtwohill will expand to cater for 1,000 pupils, Pobalscoil na Tríonóide in Youghal for 1,200 pupils, and Coláiste Mhuire and Carrignafoy Community College, both in Cobh, for 600 and over 700 pupils respectively.
Under Project Ireland 2040, the Department continues to make progress to increase the infrastructural capacity in the schools sector, in order to meet demographic and other demands. It is expected that the enrolment pressures in East Cork, and other areas, will reduce in the short-term as such planned additional capacity comes on stream and as demographic demand moves past its peak.
While the Department is aware of increasing pressures and demand for additional school places in East Cork, it is important to note that where enrolment pressures 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 they are not available to all pupils
- External draw – pupils coming from outside the local area
The Department is working to establish the true extent of any capacity issues through ongoing discussions with the relevant school authorities. In that context, similar to the process adopted in advance of the current academic year, the Department is engaging with patron bodies, including patrons of schools in East Cork areas, to identify particular capacity requirements for the forthcoming years which may necessitate further action to that already in train including, where required, the provision of modular accommodation solutions.
The Department understands that principals of schools in the area have had a number of meetings to establish an overall picture of school place requirements for the next academic year. The Department will continue to have close engagement with the relevant school patrons and authorities in order to monitor the situation and implement any solutions which may be required.
Additionally, the Department will continue to work to advance the planned and current building projects in East Cork and to ensure sufficient places for both mainstream provision and for pupils with special education requirements both for the coming academic year and into the future.
The Department is working to ensure that sufficient capacity is in place to meet the needs of post-primary schools in the Cork East school area through the delivery of the building projects that are planned or in train as well as through the Department’s engagement with patron bodies in identifying specific capacity pressure points priorities for September 2022 which will necessitate specific action. The Department is satisfied that the current planned projects for the school planning area will cater for future demand without the necessity for a further post-primary school in Midleton but will keep the planning area under review.