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School Admissions

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 14 October 2020

Wednesday, 14 October 2020

Ceisteanna (55)

Pádraig O'Sullivan

Ceist:

55. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Education the steps being taken to tackle the lack of secondary school places in areas of County Cork (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29791/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

I understand the Deputy is referring in particular to the Glanmire area of County Cork.

As you may be aware, in order to plan for school provision my Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas and utilises a Geographical Information System, using data from a range of sources, to identify where a demand for additional school places will arise. Riverstown_Glanmire is one such school planning area.

Included in the data considered is information provided by local authorities in respect of residential development activity in each area, in order to anticipate emerging school place requirements from any planned additional population.

Where data indicates that enrolments in a school planning area are expected to increase, my Department determines the optimum solution for accommodating the anticipated school place requirements after consideration of the following options:

- Utilising existing unused capacity within a school or schools,

- Extending the capacity of a school or schools,

- Provision of a new school or schools.

The requirement for additional school places is kept under on-going review and my Department is currently working on an updated exercise to assess needs for the coming years, including those which may arise in Riverstown_Glanmire. This work is at an advanced stage.

Where a school authority feels there is a deficit of teaching accommodation in a school, it is open to it to make an application through the Additional School Accommodation (ASA) scheme, details of which are available at www.education.ie. I can confirm Gaelcholáiste an Phiarsaigh (Roll Number: 62301N) has submitted such an application, which is currently under assessment.

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