Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 10 April 2019
68. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans in respect of access to a new school (details supplied); and if he will meet a representative group of parents from the Dublin 8 and 12 areas. [16794/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am pleased to inform the Deputy that I met with the Group in question on the 13th of February and we had a very constructive and informative meeting and I would like to thank the Group for the information they presented to me at the meeting.
As the Deputy will be aware, in November 2016, I announced the patronage of a new 1,000 pupil post-primary school to be established in 2018 to serve the Dublin South City Centre area. This new school, which will be a co-educational, multi-denominational school under the patronage of Educate Together, will serve the Dublin _8 school planning area, along with the Dublin 2_Dublin 4 and Dublin 6_Clonskeagh school planning areas as a regional solution.
More recently, in April 2018, I announced plans for the establishment of 42 new schools over the next four years (2019 to 2022), including new post-primary schools for areas adjacent to Dublin 8 and Dublin 12 as follows:
- new 1,000 pupil post-primary school to be established in 2020 as a regional solution to serve the Dublin 6_Clonskeagh and Dublin_6W school planning areas.
- new 600 pupil post-primary school to be established in 2021 to serve the Dublin 2_Dublin 4 school planning area.
These new schools will further reduce pressure on schools in the adjacent school planning areas, including the Dublin 8 and 12 areas.
A patronage process, which will be open to all patron bodies, will be run by my Department to decide who will operate these schools. All new schools established since 2011 to meet demographic demand are required to prioritise pupil applications from within the designated school planning area(s) which the school was established to serve. This does not preclude schools from enrolling pupils from outside of the designated school planning area where they have sufficient places.
The requirement for new schools will be kept under on-going review and in particular will have regard for the increased rollout of housing provision as outlined in Project Ireland 2040.
The existing schools in the Dublin 8 and Dublin 12 areas have significant current capacity to accommodate demand in the area at present. I understand that City of Dublin ETB and Educate Together have started discussions in relation to possible partnerships with a view to Educate Together involvement at second level in existing schools in both the Dublin 12 and Dublin 7 areas.
