Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 April 2024
282. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Education to confirm if her Department is indeed putting an expedited plan for the provision of a new gaelcholáiste or gaelcholáistí in the south Dublin area together currently (details supplied); and when this expedited plan will be completed by her Department. [17437/24]
View answerI can confirm that work is underway in my Department in relation to the review of Irish-medium school places in South Dublin.
As the Deputy is aware, the year of establishment, patronage model and language of instruction have yet to be determined for the new post-primary schools announced to serve two school planning areas in South Dublin (Dublin 2_Dublin 4 and Sallynoggin_Killiney_Dun Laoighre-Rathdown/Cherrywood).
In planning for the provision of Irish-medium post-primary school places, my Department is looking at the current enrolments and planned enrolments in Gaelscoileanna in the area. It is also looking at how many Irish-medium post-primary places are already available in the area.
This work is being undertaken in order to identify future needs for post-primary Irish-medium provision which may not be catered for by the existing Gaelcholáistí in the area.
My Department expects that existing Gaelcholáistí in the general South Dublin area between them have sufficient school places to meet demand in the short term.
However, given the number of new Gaelscoileanna which have opened in the area in recent years, we are looking actively at the situation as the Gaelscoileanna grow and as the number of sixth class pupils in the Gaelscoileanna increases.
The review of post-primary Irish medium places in South Dublin will also be informed by the new policy on Irish medium education outside of the Gaeltacht, which remains under development. In this context, while I do not have a specific timeframe for completion of the review, I can assure the Deputy that it is proceeding and will take due account of all relevant considerations.
