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Seanad Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 17 Oct 2024

Vol. 303 No. 8

Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters

An Garda Síochána

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, who is in the House to take the four Commencement matters.

I thank the Cathaoirleach sincerely for giving me the opportunity to bring this very important Commencement matter before the House today. I welcome the Minister of State. He always seems to be the go-to person and he is always here to answer my questions. I understand the Minister for Justice is not available this morning.

I thought long and hard before I brought this Commencement matter because, unfortunately, and I do not like saying it about my own county, in recent months there has been a crime spree. It is so bad that weekly, maybe twice weekly now, I receive representations from very worried people. There are worried people who are sometimes sitting up at night afraid to go asleep for fear of their house being targeted. There are worried people who have elderly members of the family living close by, maybe living on their own, and they are afraid they will be attacked. I do not want to put fear into anybody today but the reality of the situation is we have this crisis on the ground.

The Garda is excellent but its members are stretched to the limit. They are trying to cover here, there and everywhere and they simply cannot do it. Nowadays we have to understand that gardaí are handling so many other issues, including migration. There are myriad issues that gardaí have to tackle nowadays that they did not have to tackle in the past. Of course, the more legislation we have and the more issues that have to be dealt with legally puts more pressure on An Garda Síochána.

I am bringing up this issue in the context of the number of Garda stations that have closed over the years in Roscommon-Galway. For example, with regard to Tarmonbarry on the Longford-Roscommon border, in my own parish, we should never close a Garda station where there is a Shannon crossing. The reality of what is happening at the moment, if you watch the people who are caught and brought before the courts, is that many of them are coming from Dublin city, terrorising people throughout our region. It was a huge mistake to close Garda stations on the River Shannon. We also closed places like Ballyforan, Knockcroghery, Taghmaconnell and there are many more, including Shannonbridge on the Offaly-Roscommon border. All of those Garda stations have disappeared from the scene.

I understand and know the way we do policing nowadays has to change, and has changed. I understand that people might ask what the point is having a garda sitting in a Garda station, but I am very concerned about the point of contact for people. I had a case recently where people were distressed because of unusual behaviour by two guys in their area. They made ten calls to the Garda station in Boyle. They came from the general Strokestown area. Boyle is semi-closed, and Castlerea, which is quite a distance from the Strokestown area, is the policing headquarters for our locality. Eventually, they managed to get a garda in Castlerea, who was more than helpful and certainly got a patrol out there to look after people and check these guys out, but the point of contact in the local Garda station is still very important. Maybe this is where community police come in. If we could employ more community gardaí who could man a Garda station for a period time, that would be very important.

Is there any evidence of the Government or the Department making plans to open a new Garda station in County Roscommon or to reopen any of those that have been closed? We need a response. I have to do this for my people; the Minister of State understands that. I have to try and protect my people. When I see people really frightened, it troubles me.

On behalf of the Minister for Justice, I give assurance to the Senator that the Minister and the whole of Government are committed to the principle that everybody should feel safe and be safe in their community. I note the issues the Senator has raised, in particular about community safety in very remote rural locations in Longford and Roscommon.

The safety of people living and working in rural Ireland, including Roscommon, is a major priority for the Minister. The Government is committed, through the national development plan, to providing essential capital moneys to upgrade and modernise Garda stations. It is important to say that the Garda Commissioner is responsible for all decisions regarding the opening of new Garda stations or reopening stations. Works on the Garda estate are undertaken by the OPW in close co-operation with the Garda authorities. This includes identifying and progressing any new stations or refurbishing existing stations.

With regard to crime and safety, our approach to community safety is a whole-of-government one. Enhancing rural safety includes everything from having more visible gardaí in the community to providing safe public spaces and amenities. That is why we are bringing the relevant social service providers, including the Garda, together with the community in a collaborative manner by focusing on the concerns identified by the local community itself.

Three pilot local community safety partnerships, LCSPs, have been running since 2021, including one in Longford, and each has published a local community safety plan. A process to hire independent chairpersons for each LCSP is under way in most local authority areas, including in Roscommon. The Minister is hopeful that many communities will start to see LCSPs established in their areas over the coming weeks.

The Senator raised the importance of a visible Garda presence to deter and detect crime and to help people feel safe in communities. Crimes such as theft and burglary cause enormous harm to hard-working members of rural communities and we are determined to fight this scourge.

The Senator may be interested to know in late September a Garda operation took place in the Mayo-Roscommon-Longford division to target suspects involved in rural burglaries. Suspects were formally identified during several weeks of investigation. Arrests were made by the Garda and a number of individuals were before brought before the courts.

It is also worth noting the remarkable progress made since Garda Operation Thor, which was specifically aimed at burglaries, was launched in 2015. Following it, there has been a 75% reduction in residential burglaries nationwide. That is a significant drop. Operation Thor actively targets organised crime gangs and repeat offenders through co-ordinated crime prevention and enforcement activity based on intelligence and the latest burglary trends.

I also note that throughout 2023, the Criminal Assets Bureau, CAB, placed emphasis on targeting the criminal groups engaged in property crime, such as burglaries and robberies. A particular focus of CAB's activities centred upon rural crime and a number of its actions were in support of law enforcement in regional locations. I hope that is of some comfort to the Senator in terms of the response of An Garda Síochána. As I stated on behalf of the Minister for Justice, this is a whole-community and whole-of-government response to rural crime.

I thank the Minister of State very much. I understand that he is subbing here. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, knows our county very well. I know her personally and I know that she wants to ensure people in the county are safe, but in the short term we must consider manning the bridges across the River Shannon coming into County Roscommon. We had to do it in previous years when we had issues and we need to do it again. I urge the Minister of State to take that suggestion back to the Minister. It is something I intend to contact the Commissioner about as well.

We also need more gardaí on the ground. We must find a way to reopen some Garda stations as a point of contact, in particular for elderly people. People get distressed when they know the number of the local Garda station and then cannot get a response at the end of the phone. That is extremely worrying for them.

I know the Minister of State travels to the west quite a lot. He knows the national primary road, the N5. He has been in the village of Tulsk. We had a situation where those guys took over the N5 road at 4 a.m. and plundered a local business. There was also a situation in a little village, Castleplunket, where a lady – with her daughter and elderly mother – looked across at the family business being absolutely raided and broken down by four gangsters at 4 o'clock in the morning. She was fearful for her brother and his family who live next door to it. Those are real incidents.

Gabhaim míle buíochas leis an Seanadóir.

We must lock up those people and not let them out on bail if they have committed a second offence.

I have gone over time. I thank the Cathaoirleach for his patience.

I reiterate that the reopening of Garda stations or the deployment of gardaí is an operational matter for the Garda Commissioner. I reiterate also that community safety is of the highest priority for the Minister. Recently, she was pleased to announce a €62 million investment in the Garda estate across the country as part of budget 2025.

Under the NDP the Government is committed to investing significant levels of capital funding into An Garda Síochána to deliver a Garda station modernisation and refurbishment programme involving strategic ICT and digitisation projects and to provide a modern, fit-for-purpose Garda fleet.

No Garda station closures took place in recent years. The Commissioner has repeatedly said there is no intention to close any stations. Currently, An Garda Síochána has more than 560 Garda stations throughout the country, which is high by international standards. The Government remains committed to giving the Commissioner the resources he needs. I will take back the issues Senator Murphy raises, specifically concerning crime in rural County Roscommon. The Minister and the Government are committed to addressing rural crime.

Youth Services

The Minister of State is welcome. I thank him for coming. I received apologies from the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman.

I first encountered youth work early in my working life when I observed the youth work programme. I had the honour of working with the YMCA in the city of Dublin. I saw the extraordinary impact it had on young people's lives, not only from the point of view of activities but also due to the opportunities presented to them. The sheer fact of the relationship with young people was extraordinarily lifesaving and life-changing. For the many young people who do not have mentors in their life, the youth worker is the person to whom they turn if there is the slightest crisis.

In September this year the National Youth Council made a fantastic presentation of its needs in the context of budget 2025 when it asked for €15 million in additional resources. In the same week, I participated in a panel with the Children's Rights Alliance and talked about my passion for what I have seen in youth work, as I have done throughout my career.

The Joint Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth published a report, a central point of which is that youth work is the Cinderella of all the services. It involves highly qualified, professional and motivated people who really want to work with young people in a life-changing way, but they are not supported. The allocations to youth work do not cover the costs involved.

It is important that we honour youth workers, but it is not a sustainable career for people. The moment they arrive at a stage in their lives when they want to settle down or have a family and home of their own, they are not able to stay in youth work because of the pay rates. There are no pensions, and even auto-enrolment has not been properly funded. The cost of running services and facilities is not properly catered for in the budget that has been allocated in recent years. An announcement was made that we are going to have an increased provision of UBU services. Another ten of them are to be launched. We have had that announcement, yet when it comes to it, the rising costs in youth work, which are the same as in any other service or business across the country, are not met by the budget allocation.

Some €1.2 billion was allocated for the ten individual Your Place Your Space services. That is €120,000 each, which would cover 1.5 youth workers and some overheads at the most, and even that is a very modest wage.

I work with the St. John Bosco youth service in Drimnagh, which is extraordinary. It uses everything within its capacity to fund the services for the community of Drimnagh. The centre let out a space to a local guy, who has done extremely well and organised a gym so that there was some income, and Dublin City Council cut its funding because it has a commercial input. We have no sustainable plan for young people who really need it. I have had those young people in here. There is a similar family base in Ballyfermot that does fantastic work. They ask where the money is for youth work.

The word "youth" is thrown in at the very end of the Department's title, and that is how it is treated in the budget allocations. The National Youth Council of Ireland has been fantastic in advocating in this area but it is highly critical of what the Minister has delivered in budget 2025.

I thank Senator Seery Kearney. Having worked in youth services previously, I am aware of the work they do. My own children have greatly benefited from youth work and youth services, including LGBTQI services, and they now volunteer with them.

I thank the Senator for raising this important issue, to which I am responding on behalf of the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman. During his time as Minister, there have been significant increases in the level of investment for youth organisations and services. Arising from budget 2025, €84.9 million is being allocated for current and capital expenditure of youth services, an increase in funding of €7 million, or almost 9%, on the 2024 budget. In the period from 2021 to 2025, current Exchequer funding for youth services and programmes will have increased by more than 34%.

The additional funding secured in budget 2025 will support the sustainability of youth organisations, while also expanding youth work service capacity through the funding of new targeted youth services, as the Senator has mentioned. Crucially, the funding secured in budget 2025 will support the implementation of Opportunities for Youth: The National Strategy for Youth Work and Related Services 2024-2028. This strategy, which was positively received by the wider youth work sector, sets out Ireland's key ambitions for youth work and related services.

It includes a clear set of strategic objectives and 18 priority actions intended to strengthen the role of youth work and related services in the lives of young people.

Funding will also support the UBU Your Place Your Space scheme, which targets disadvantaged young people with evidence-informed interventions and services that secure positive outcomes for young people. The overall allocation for UBU in 2024 was more than €48 million. This scheme will be the subject of a further annual increase in 2025. Additional youth funding that will enable the establishment of a further ten new UBU youth services over the course of next year was secured in budget 2025. These new services will provide targeted, youth-worker-led support to up to 1,000 disadvantaged young people where they are most needed.

Funding through the youth services grant scheme, which supports national youth organisations in delivering quality youth services across the State, will also be increased in 2025. The national youth organisations that support young people in their social and personal development include Foróige, Youth Work Ireland and BeLonG To, to name just three. In addition to increasing the funding provided to the existing national youth organisations, up to €1.5 million in funds has been allocated for the specific purpose of expanding the scheme to include additional national youth organisations during 2024 and 2025.

Furthermore, an additional €650,000 was allocated this year to the volunteer activation fund, which will continue, into 2025, to provide support to national youth organisations in recruiting, retaining and supporting volunteers. Importantly, funding will also be made available for the LGBTI+ youth fund, which will support initiatives that ensure that LGBTI+ young people are visible, included, and treated equally in their communities. This includes enhancing the capacity of youth work services to meet the needs of LGBTI+ young people, whether in dedicated groups or integrated settings, fully aligning with our opportunities for youth strategy.

A new pilot initiative will be implemented in 2025 to support selected youth services in providing meals during school holiday periods. This initiative, which is part of the Government's commitment to tackling holiday hunger, will help feed up to 1,000 young people aged ten to 18 years, who are at risk of not having access to a hot meal or any substantial meal during the official school closure times.

The Minister has also committed to continuing to fund the targeted youth employability support initiative that was launched this year to engage with and support harder-to-reach young people aged 15 to 24 who are not in employment, education or training. This initiative will receive €1 million in funding for 2025.

Capital funding of €1 million will be available for the benefit of young people in 2025, with €500,000 specifically earmarked for upgrading play and recreation facilities.

I know the Minister of State was handed a speech and had to read it out, but it was just a litany of back-patting for the Department as opposed to an exercise in engaging with the reality of what it is to run youth services. The things listed as being provided for are what we should be doing at the very least. An exceptional report was put forward by the committee. It referred to how crucial and lifesaving youth work is, yet, we are not funding it enough. We have pensions auto enrolment and sick leave deficits. The allocation for youth work has not increased with the costs incurred by employers, who, by definition, employ people. The Department is renowned for being tone deaf to the reality faced by service providers. It states that it is going to do this, it is providing funding, everything is great, it is great and it is really good at looking at what is involved. The reality on the ground is not being dealt with. It is not being fought for properly but it needs to be.

I acknowledge the Senator's passion in respect of this matter. Having been involved in youth work, I know the invaluable work that youth organisations do. I met some of the organisations prior to the budget. The youth strategy the Minister launched and has led on was developed with broad stakeholder engagement involving youth work organisations. Opportunities still exist. Officials are examining the options available for the distribution of youth funding in 2025. All of what I have outlined shows that there has been a significant increase. We also have to be mindful that there are many more young people now. We have a very young population. Our demographic in that regard is very different from the rest of Europe. There are also more hard-to-reach communities and more hard-to-reach young people who are in need of services in rural and urban areas throughout the country. The Minister is very conscious of this. It is important that we continue to work together to try to address these issues with Youth Work Ireland and the national youth organisations.

Sports Funding

The Minister of State is well aware of the importance of sport in the development of a healthy and active lifestyle for young people. There is no doubt that our investment in sporting efforts throughout the country has been significant, particularly in the context of the recent announcement under the sports capital programme. This provides significant amounts of money to most clubs. However, every young person who plays at club level aspires to go on to do great things. We all did. Some succeeded; the rest of us did not. Notwithstanding this, it is important that in each county there is appropriate infrastructure to allow teams to train to a very high level.

Over the years, some counties have done really well because they have big benefactors. The very best of luck to them. That is great. However, other counties do not have these benefactors. We see both in football and hurling that it is just the preserve now of a relatively small number of counties. It is really important that we continue to invest significantly in infrastructure.

In Clare, the GAA county board has an application before the Department for a project that will cost almost €5 million. Under the terms of the relevant scheme, 70% is all that can be allocated from State resources. That would be €3.428 million. The county board has already assigned about €1.5 million of its own resources to the project. I am anxious that this funding be provided to the centre of excellence at Caherlohan, which has been in development for some time. A great deal of investment will be required to bring it up to a standard that would be commensurate with other facilities across the country.

In the context of some of the funding allocated under the large scale sport infrastructure fund, LSSIF, there has been a bit of a loaves-and-fishes approach. In other words, there has been a little for everybody. My understanding is that only about 5% of the money was drawn down in 2019. Unless a facility is given all that is required, nothing happens. With a project the size of the one to which I refer and with counties already stretched funding other aspects of sports facilities, there is no spare cash available. If the Department decides to assign 50% or even 75% of what is sought, it will not be enough to make the project viable. This is my concern when it comes to projects of this nature.

It is important that the maximum amount of money is provided for the project to which I refer. It is the number one priority for Clare County Council. My understanding is that it is number three on the priority list from the central GAA office. This is a very high ranking and indicates that the GAA at national level sees it as a strategic piece of infrastructure and one that is deserving of funding.

The project will completely transform the facility from one which is poorly presented, unfit for purpose and unable to meet the needs of existing users, into a high-quality, accessible sports venue. It will allow it to reach its potential in the context of sports participation at recreational and competitive levels, ensuring that high-performance standards are achieved. That is what we are all about here. The project will promote community access, increased wellness time, with a shared public space. It is supported by Clare County Council and multiple community partners. It is not just the GAA on its own here. There are other community interests that have already signed licence agreements with the county board and that would benefit significantly from this piece of infrastructure when it is completed.

I ask the Minister of State to do everything in his power to enable this application to be successful in full. I am clear that the potential support is a most vital ingredient in ensuring a successful outcome. I ask the Minister of State to take back to the Minister my comments on the necessity to have the maximum amount of money provided for this important project in order to ensure that it can proceed. It is over to the Government to make this happen.

Before the Minister of State replies, I wish to echo Senator Dooley's comments. He has articulated very well a project that is essential for both well-being and sport in County Clare.

I agree. Clare hurling is doing well - I say that as a Kilkenny man - without a centre of excellence. I am taking this matter on behalf of the Ministers, Deputies Catherine Martin and Byrne. I take on board the points the Senator made.

The establishment of the LSSIF was provided for under the national sports policy 2018 to 2027. The aim of the fund is to provide support to sports facilities where the Exchequer investment is greater than the maximum amount available under the sports capital and equipment programme, now renamed the community sports facilities fund. The first allocations under the LSSIF were announced in January 2020, with €86.4 million awarded to 33 different projects across the country. It is a substantial fund.

Additional funding of €37.6 million was allocated to 27 of these projects in December 2023, bringing the total awarded to date to LSSIF-funded projects to €124 million. Since June 2023, a number of LSSIF-funded projects have opened to the public. These include: the linear walkway and playing fields project in Meath; phase 1 of the Walsh Park redevelopment in Waterford; the Limerick Regional Athletics Hub; the Dundalk leisure centre facilities refurbishment project; and the Munster Technological University athletics track in Cork.

A number of other LSSIF projects are due to be completed or significantly progressed this year. Examples include the Connacht Rugby project and the redevelopment of St. Conleth’s Park in Newbridge, County Kildare. In April, the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media published a review of the first round of the LSSIF, along with a new policy requirement on implementing similar access for men and women to sports facilities, funded under the LSSIF. Under similar access requirements, recipients of LSSIF funding must accommodate the needs of women and men, on a similar basis, with respect to accessing the facilities that have been allocated public funding. Any organisation that is in receipt of LSSIF funding must have a similar access policy in place and put work towards publishing it as soon as possible.

Earlier this year, the Ministers, Deputies Martin and Byrne, confirmed that up to €120 million under a new round of LSSIF funding is available. The new LSSIF round closed for applications on 1 July last. As the Senator will be aware, an application in respect of the development of the Clare GAA centre of excellence at Catherlohan was one of the applications received. The assessment of applications is well advanced and it is hoped to announce allocations under the latest round of funding under the LSSIF in the coming weeks.

In addition to the LSSIF, the community sports facilities fund, formerly the sports capital and equipment programme, has been a main source of capital funding for many years. On 25 September, the Ministers, Deputies Martin and Byrne, announced €230 million in grants for sports clubs and facilities. Over €250 million has been allocated to community sports clubs and facilities in 2024, taking account of the earlier equipment only allocation of €26 million, with a total investment of more than €256 million. This will facilitate the largest ever investment in sports facilities in communities across Ireland. One of the allocations confirmed last month was €478,668 towards the development of full-size GAA all-weather pitch at the centre of excellence. Again, I wish Clare GAA all the best with this project.

Overall, Gaelic games will benefit from the investment allocations to GAA clubs and organisations totalling €100 million for 2024. This follows allocations for Gaelic games under the 2020 round of over €65 million, bringing the total investment to €265 million from this fund over four years. I note the point the Senator made regarding the viability of projects and will take it back to both Ministers.

I know the Minister understands the point. He made that very clear. It is important that we build this facility incrementally. Money has been provided, most recently almost €500,000, which is very welcome. Work has been going on over the past eight to ten years. It is at a level where it needs significant investment. That is why I appeal to all concerned at Government level.

The allocation of €3.5 million would make such a difference and bring the facility to a standard that would allow us to develop the next wave of sports for men and women. It is important that the facility is developed in an open and community way, not just for those who happen to be members of the GAA. The team, led by Kieran Keating and Deirdre Murphy, is open to ensuring that the GAA is not behind closed doors or high walls and gates, but, rather, that the facilities are open to everybody. I have no doubt that will continue to be the case.

It is recognised that we need these types of services to get people to remain in sport. We have had good success this year in Clare and want that to continue. We want to be able to keep Kilkenny, Tipperary, Cork and Limerick on their toes. Young people now expect a standard that we did not have in our day and which is available elsewhere. If men and women are to remain involved in the sport, they will expect and need these facilities.

While am making the case for Claire, I am also mindful that this should be a strategic approach generally across the country. It happens to be the case that Clare has an application in this year; I hope other counties that have not already got to this stage will submit applications because that is the future. The funding works well in conjunction with funding for local clubs, which is important. We are thankful for all we have received in that regard.

I will take these points back to Ministers. This sounds like a hugely exciting prospect for Clare. I am a big fan of Clare hurling, notwithstanding the fact that I am a Kilkenny man. I love the hurling from the county.

The assessment of applications under the LSSIF is well advanced. I hope the announcement of allocations under the latest round of funding will come in the coming weeks and not before the election – we will see when that arrives.

The point the Senator raises about the opportunity that this funding provides for young people, boys and girls and men and women in the county is significant. That is why the Government recognised that in the context of the funding streams for sports clubs. It is through sport, collaboration and engagement that young people will see greater opportunities. We support that. I will take the points made back to both Ministers.

I thank the Minister. I have no doubt that he will articulate Senator Dooley's proposal to the Minister. It is to be hoped we will see a successful outcome in terms of the application for County Clare.

School Admissions

We woke up to the news in yesterday's edition of The Irish Times that parents of children in commuter belt areas like Castleknock and Carpenterstown are being written to and advised by education authorities to apply to multiple secondary schools because of the level of oversubscription to schools in areas of high enrolment pressure. Almost half of all secondary schools across the State are set to be oversubscribed in the coming year. The authorities have also said there is excess capacity in the system, but particular areas are under pressure. I simply do not understand this approach. There are ways to deal with the problem and ways not to deal with it. In solving one problem, the Minister will create a larger problem elsewhere.

It is not as if there are not other proven effective ways to deal with this which I have already flagged with the Minister. Her solution is to ask parents to swamp schools with applications, including schools I imagine will be outside of a given catchment area. That only leads to oversubscription, bulging waiting lists and worry and panic for parents who do not believe that there will be a school place at the end of a waiting list of 300 or more. Parents will wait for months and make multiple phone calls to schools in order to secure places. This requires the use of resources on the part of schools and results in last-minute phone calls in August, on the eve of school starting, when parents may have taken places in other schools, to say that places are now available in their preferred school.

I do not understand this approach. The Department could have acted to implement a common application process in the areas where there is high demand earlier this year. Common applications processes are tried and tested in other parts of the country. These processes are led by schools and patrons. They involved common application forms and an opportunity for parents and students to outline their preferences.

It is managed by all the schools together so that they can strip out the duplications. They generally have a common deadline for applications as well. It means that children who want a place in a particular school have a better chance of getting it rather than what is happening, in my area in particular, where two schools, Edmund Rice College and Castleknock Community College, which are in the Carpenterstown and Castleknock areas, are both oversubscribed and children are travelling to one school in another part of Castleknock even though they would prefer to go to the local school and vice versa. A common applications process would sort that out. In addition, I have talked to other schools that have seen a huge increase in applications but, at the end of it, have not necessarily got the children living in their locality into the school. By the time they have filled all of their places, they are actually catering to children outside the catchment area because of the bulge involved in this approach.

I got a commitment from the Minister in April that she would review a common applications process and that actions were being advanced with schools and education partners for 2025 admissions to better align timeframes for applications and strengthen data-sharing arrangements. What has happened to that promise of reform for a system that is not working and is the opposite of child-centred?

I am taking this Commencement matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education, Deputy Norma Foley, who is otherwise engaged.

I thank the Senator for raising the matter, which she has raised persistently over recent months, as it provides me with the opportunity to outline steps the Department of Education is taking to support post-primary schools in managing and co-ordinating their enrolment processes for September 2025, including in the Dublin West area. The provision of school places to meet the needs of children and young people at primary and post-primary level, including children and young people with special educational needs, is an absolute priority for the Department of Education.

Under the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018, 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 will 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. The Act requires schools to clearly set out their selection criteria in their admission policies. Schools have discretion in respect of their admission criteria and how they are applied. The criteria to be applied by schools and the order of priority are a matter for the schools themselves.

The Department has been putting in place a number of measures to support post-primary schools, including in Dublin West, in managing and effectively co-ordinating their admissions processes. These include the following. The Department has improved the central post-primary online database IT system that schools use to register student enrolments. This is an important improvement and is available to assist schools to manage the enrolment process and provide real-time notification to schools where a new student has accepted a school place in more than one school. This will help identify duplicate enrolments at a very early stage. The Department has written to all parents and guardians of children in sixth class with advice and guidance regarding the admissions process for post-primary for the 2025-26 school year. This letter advised parents to apply to multiple schools in areas where there is high demand and requested parents to take steps to avoid holding multiple places. The successful data-sharing arrangements that were implemented for the 2024-25 admissions process in areas of enrolment pressure will be put in place again for 2025-26, including for areas in Dublin. It is expected that, as in previous years, the data sharing will provide confidence that there is sufficient school place availability in the majority of areas. However, if a shortfall of places is identified in an area, the Department will work with schools to put the necessary solutions in place.

With respect to a common applications system, there are complexities in the admissions process that can be challenging to manage, relating to factors such as individual school admission policies and locations where there is a lot of inward and outward movement. Nevertheless, the Department has been working to identify how learnings from the common applications system in Limerick and Ennis might be applied in other areas in future years with a view to improving the process for families and schools.

At a national level, Ireland has experienced growth in overall post-primary enrolments, and this is projected to continue in many parts of the country over the next number of years before beginning to decline. However, first year enrolments nationally are expected to have already peaked in the 2023-24 school year. The Department’s forward-planning analysis takes account of local factors, in particular, residential development activity, when determining capacity required in an area.

The Department’s projections for post-primary school place requirements in Dublin West indicate some continued increase in 2026. In the context of projected overall population growth, it is anticipated there will be increasing school place requirements in the medium to long term. There are, however, a number of school building projects recently delivered or in train which are delivering significant additional further capacity across Dublin West. Projects currently delivered on site or in train include new school buildings at Adamstown Community College, Kingswood Community College, Coláiste Pobail Fóla and Griffeen Community College, as well as major projects at Holy Family Community School, Tallaght Community School, St. Joseph's College and Lucan Community College.

I will come back in on a supplementary reply but I hope this offers some path forward for the Senator.

I thank the Minister of State. The Department improved the central post-primary online database IT system that was in place last year but did not deal with the issue. It is writing to parents to encourage them to write to multiple schools and requesting parents to take steps to avoid holding multiple places. That is a request, whereas a common applications process would solve that issue. The Department is saying there were successful data-sharing arrangements implemented for last year which will be used again this year.

All of these are reactive, however, not proactive. The Department is reactive whenever parents and students are already in a process where they are waiting months. Reform of the system in a common applications process would deal with this before Christmas. I do not understand why we would be in a place where, to solve a problem, we are actually creating a bigger problem. It is happening too often. The Department needs to stay on top of capacity in each school area in forward planning. The schools it referenced are actually in Dublin Mid-West, not Dublin West. It also has to address the attraction to other schools in areas as a result of investment. We cannot invest in particular schools and then leave other schools without investment, thereby making those particular schools more attractive. That is happening in our area as well. I particularly want to see more investment in Coolmine Community School.

Another instance of solving one problem by creating another is in the Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart area, where they are opening a new secondary school by moving a school that was outside of that catchment, in Hansfield, to that area, but leaving the community without forward planning for their secondary school places in an area of growth. In the round, the Department needs to be proactive and deal with these issues in a way that does not create more problems.

The Senator’s points are noted. Certainly, the Department is proactive. It is using demographics and CSO data to inform its planning. As I said, the growth we are seeing will peak and taper off, but perhaps not so profoundly in the greater Dublin area and Dublin West.

Regarding the common applications system, especially for special educational needs provision, at primary level in Dublin 15, the Minister of State with responsibility for special education and inclusion, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton, has asked her Department and the National Council for Special Education to establish a new task force to discuss ways to support the forward planning for special education provision in the Dublin 15 area ahead of the next school year, 2025-2026. The new task force is due to have its first meeting next week. Its work will be led by an independent chairperson and the group will include members representing parents and schools. Among the issues this task force will consider will be measures to support a common application process for primary special class enrolments.

The Senator’s lobbying has paid some dividends, so well done in that regard. I accept the point she made that it is critically important we get the balance right to take that stress from parents and families in what is a very challenging time anyway.

I thank Senator Currie for raising what is an important Commencement matter this morning. I thank the Minister of State for taking all four Commencement matters. We know he is busy and we appreciate his time in the Seanad.

Cuireadh an Seanad ar fionraí ar 10.20 a.m. agus cuireadh tús leis arís ar 10.35 a.m.
Sitting suspended at 10.20 a.m. and resumed at 10.35 a.m.
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