Vol. 407 No. 1
318 Mr. Bell asked the Minister for Education if her attention has been drawn to the fact that the September 1991 student population in St. Oliver's community college, County Louth, will be at least 1,100; and if she will outline the provision she proposes to make for this number in view of the fact that the school was built to accommodate 850 students.
319 Mr. Bell asked the Minister for Education if her attention has been drawn to the fact that (a) the enrolment figures for first year students in Drogheda's second level schools are as follows (number of places available in brackets) St. Oliver's: 304 (220), St. Mary's: 143 approximately (143 approximately), St. Joseph's 178 (120), Sacred Heart: 115 (111), Grammer School 23-30 (28), St. Laurence's 27, Greenhills; 175 (120) and (b) that this would leave approximately 158 students without second level places in September 1991; and the way in which she proposes to solve this accommodation problem.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 318 and 319 together.
In a review of the post-primary accommodation needs of Drogheda carried out in my Department it emerged that (a) in the period 1980-89 County Louth recorded a drop of 41 per cent in the number of annual births for the county, down from 2,091 to 1,242. In the same period, baptisms in Drogheda town and six adjacent parishes declined by 27 per cent; (b) the output from all primary schools in the Drogheda post-primary catchment area shows a clear decline in the numbers coming on steam in the next seven years — down from 932 in 1991 to 779 in 1997. In these circumstances, it is considered that the provision of further additional permanent accommodation in Drogheda would not be warranted.
