Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 December 2023
335. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Education if she will provide details of the future planning undertaken by her Department to ensure the capacity of school places in Kildare are in line with current population and projected population growth in Kildare for the next three, five and ten years. [55173/23]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, for school planning purposes, 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.
As part of the Department's commitment to the National Planning Framework, as part of Project Ireland 2040, and with the objective of ensuring that there is appropriate education provision for future populations, my Department engages proactively with the 31 local authorities in the development of their statutory plans. In the context of County Kildare, my Department has had regular engagement with Kildare County Council through the development and adoption of its 2023-2029 Development Plan. This has allowed my Department to plan for the projected population growth in County Kildare over the course of the Development Plan.
It is, however, important to note that the impact of population growth on school place requirements is mitigated by changing demographic trends. Despite projected national population growth, the numbers of primary students are forecast to reduce by 100,000 over the next decade, and while post primary enrolments are expected to peak in 2024, they are forecast to decline by 70,000 over the subsequent ten years.
The impact on school places of the projected population growth in Kildare is being considered in that context, with a view to identifying any further accommodation solutions required to meet the capacity requirements. However, it is important to note that my Department is already delivering significant additional capacity at schools in the county as part of its capital programme.
Under Project Ireland 2040 the education sector will receive a total of approximately €5 billion capital investment over the period 2021-2025. There will be a rolling 5 year funding envelope which will be updated annually for the period 2026 to 2030 within the Government’s overall NDP funding envelope of €136 billion in exchequer capital (€165 billion total capital including non-Exchequer) that will facilitate building a modern and sustainable school infrastructure.
This significant investment allows us to move forward with certainty on our ambitious plans and deliver high quality building projects, with a real focus on sustainability, for school communities across Ireland. The strengthened focus on refurbishment of existing school stock will have different strands and will include a deep-energy retrofit programme in support of our 2030 and 2050 Climate Action Goals.
The 2022 demographic exercise indicates that 85% of the 314 school planning areas at primary level show static or decreasing enrolments for the period to 2026 compared with 2021. At post-primary level some 74% of school planning areas are anticipated to have increased enrolments for the period to 2029, with most expected to reach a peak within the next two or three years.
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.
The Department will continue to liaise with Local Authorities in respect of their County Development Plan and any associated Local Area Plans with a view to identifying any potential long-term school accommodation requirements across school planning areas.
