Vol. 518 No. 6
606 Mr. Stagg asked the Minister for Education and Science if his attention has been drawn to the difficulties for parents from Kill, County Kildare, in obtaining secondary school places for their children in Naas and Rathcoole; if he has received proposals form the County Kildare VEC for the provision of a secondary school in Kill village; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13096/00]
My Department is not aware that pupils from the Kill area are experiencing any particular difficulty in obtaining second level places in the Naas or Rathcoole centres. I can further confirm that my Department has not received any application from County Kildare VEC for the provision of a second level school in Kill village.
The general situation in relation to the centres in question is that, following a recent evaluation of post-primary school requirements for the Naas area, building projects were approved for all three schools in the centre. Two of these projects will provide additional permanent accommodation, at Meánscoil Iognáid Rís and St. Mary's College. The third involves the refurbishment of St. Patrick's vocational school, which currently has in excess of 160 vacant pupil places.
With regard to the Rathcoole centre, a building project was carried out in 1994 to increase pupil capacity to 825 pupil places. This capacity compares with a current enrolment of 769 pupils.
In the circumstances, the indications are that there is sufficient second level school accommodation in the general area to meet the current demand. However, the area will continue to be closely monitored by my Department to ensure that any emerging additional requirements are addressed as expeditiously as possible.
