Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)
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313. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to provide an update on an application by a school (details supplied) for additional accommodation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29332/24]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The school referred to by the Deputy was approved to enter the Department’s pipeline of school buildings for a project to provide a single classroom SEN base. The project was devolved for delivery to the school authority. My Department has received a tender report from the school which is subjected to the required due diligence as specified in the Public Infrastructure Guidelines in common with all such capital projects. The outcome of this review has been communicated to the school authority directly. It is expected that the project will now progress to the appointment of a contractor and works on site shortly.

For transparency, the status of all projects is regularly updated and can be found on a county-by-county basis at www.gov.ie. This information reflects the progress of projects through various stages, including capital appraisal, site acquisition, design, tender, and construction. Under the Project Ireland 2040 initiative, we will be allocating more than €5 billion from 2021 to 2025 to enhance school facilities and increase capacity nationwide. This investment is focused on meeting the needs of nearly one million students including those students with special education needs and over 100,000 staff members who utilise our schools daily.

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that requirements for school places are kept under ongoing review in the context of available information on population, enrolments and residential development activity.

In order to plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data, my Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas. A Geographical Information System is used to analyse data from a range of sources, including CSO Census data, Child Benefit and school enrolment data, to identify where the pressure for school places across the country will arise and where additional school accommodation is needed at primary and post-primary level.

Major new residential developments have the potential to alter the demand for school places at a local level. In that regard, as part of the demographic demand analysis, my Department monitors planning and construction activity in the residential sector. This involves the analysis of data sources from Local Authorities and the CSO, along with regular engagement with Local Authorities. In this way, up to date information on significant new residential developments is obtained and factored into the demographic analysis exercise. This is necessary to ensure that schools infrastructure planning is keeping pace with demographic changes at a local level, where there is a constantly evolving picture with planned new residential development.

Sixmilebridge is located within the Shannon School Planning Area (SPA). This SPA includes 14 primary schools and two Post Primary schools..

Progression data from primary school to post primary schools shows that on average 75% of the pupils from these primary schools attend the two post primary schools in the Shannon SPA, while 15% attend post primary school in Limerick, 5% in Ennis and 5% in Tulla.

There are a number of reasons why pupils attend post primary school outside their primary school SPA, including commuter patterns, family history, school of choice, etc.

The two post primary schools in Shannon are Shannon Comprehensive 81007U and St. Caimhin’s Community School 91447I. While St. Caimhin’s Community School is fully subscribed each year, Shannon Comprehensive has capacity to enrol more pupils.

The Department’s 2023 demographic projections exercise forecasts that there will be a slight increase in demand for post primary school places in the Shannon SPA until a peak in 2025. First year enrolments are currently projected to peak in 2024. Demographic projections are kept under review on an ongoing basis.

Based on the analysis undertaken, it is deemed that there is not a sufficient unmet demand in the Shannon SPA and wider area to establish a new post primary school.

Any future shortfall in capacity required to meet the demand for post primary schools can be catered for in the existing post primary schools.

Requirements for school places will be kept under ongoing review in this region and across the country.