Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 May 2016
202. Deputy Fiona O'Loughlin asked the Minister for Education and Skills to review the data on demographics in south County Kildare on the requirement for an additional secondary level school there; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11817/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department uses a Geographical Information System (GIS) to identify where the pressure for school places across the country will arise. The GIS uses data from the Central Statistics Office, Ordnance Survey Ireland and the Department of Social Protection together with information from my Department's school databases. With this information, my Department carries out nationwide demographic exercises at primary and post-primary level to determine where additional school accommodation is needed. The outcome of the latest demographic exercise was that in November 2015, the establishment of 13 new schools to open nationwide in 2017 and 2018 was announced.
With the addition of both planned and recently delivered infrastructural provision in areas in South Kildare, the existing schools should between them be able to cater for the overall level of demographic demand for post-primary school places. The announcement in November also highlighted announced that a range of areas nationwide are experiencing demographic pressures and would be kept under review. In this regard, the school planning areas in south County Kildare are being kept under ongoing review by my Department to take account of updated child benefit data and enrolment data and also the impact of existing and planned capacity increases to schools in these areas.
