Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 October 2023
284. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Education the extent to which adequate school places remain available to parents and schoolchildren at Moyvalley, County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45324/23]
View answerAs the Deputy may be aware, In order to plan for school place needs, my Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and utilises a Geographical Information System 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 my Department's projections of school place requirements.
Moyvalley is part of the Longwood School Planning Area. My Department's projections of primary school place requirements in the Longwood SPA indicate that enrolments at primary level peaked in 2022 and will steadily decrease in the coming years. At a national level, primary enrolments are projected to decrease by circa 10,000 every year over the course of a decade.
It is important to note that where enrolment pressures arise, it may not always 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
Having considered the projected requirements in each school planning area, including the Longwood School Planning Area, my Department then makes an assessment of the existing capacity and identifies any requirement for additional provision.
Where demographic data indicates that additional provision is required, the delivery of such additional provision is dependent on the particular circumstances of each case and may, be provided through:
• 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's main responsibility is to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking school places in the area. In relation to school admissions, it is the responsibility of the managerial authorities of all schools to implement an enrolment policy in accordance with the Education Act, 1998.
Parents have the right to choose which school to apply to and where the school has places available the pupil should be admitted. However, in schools where there are more applicants than places available a selection process may be necessary. This selection process and the enrolment policy on which it is based must be non-discriminatory and must be applied fairly in respect of all applicants. However, this may result in some pupils not obtaining a place in the school of their first choice.
Moyvalley is part of the Longwood School Planning Area. My Department's projections of primary school place requirements in the Longwood SPA indicate that enrolments at primary level peaked in 2022 and will steadily decrease in the coming years.
My Department will continue to keep the school place requirements in Moyvalley, as with other areas across the country, under review.
