Brendan Smith demands urgent school expansion amid soaring enrolment

Thank you Iancorda. Minister, my question refers to Colossia, Duna and Reaching, Scourge County, Cavan. This school opened in August 2016 and already it has exceeded its capacity. The projected attendance at the school was 450 and at present the enrolment is 5.30 after five years. So the indications are that the enrolment will continue to grow. It is a highly regarded school. It has been very successful. And the Cavanmont and ETB and the school and the Board of Management and the wider school community are very anxious that the application for additional permanent accommodation should be progressed by your department as soon as possible. And I appreciate the opportunity I had to discuss this matter with you some months ago, Minister. Thank you. I can call it. Thank you, Deputy. And I do want to acknowledge your personal interest in moving this forward and your engagement with me on a number of occasions in relation to this. I can confirm that the department is in receipt of an application for additional school accommodation from the school authority as you refer to it. The application is currently being assessed and once completed, the school authority will be informed of the outcome. Where capacity issues arise, it may not always be as a result of lack of accommodation, but may be driven by a number of factors. Duplication of applications. Pupils may have applied for a place to a number of schools in the area. School of choice pupils can't get a place in their preferred school whilst there are places in other schools in the town or area. Some towns or areas have single-sex schools and while places are available in the school, they are not available to all pupils. And then, of course, there is the external draw of pupils coming from outside to a particular local area. Until these issues are discussed with the relevant school authorities, the true extent of any capacity issue will only then become known. Similar to the processes adopted in advance of the current academic year, the department is currently engaging with patron bodies, including the patron in question, to identify particular and specific capacity requirements for the forthcoming year, which may necessitate action. Deputy Smith. I want to thank the Minister for a reply. Minister, I was closely involved with one of your predecessors, Deputy Bat O'Keefe, at the time in getting school approved for Kingscourt, and of course there was a lot of cynicism that there was no need for a school, but the enrolment and the projection by the department at that time and by the then VEC was that 450 would be adequate capacity. Thankfully today the enrolment is 530. The projected enrolment for 2024 is 815. Thankfully in that area there is very substantial employment. There has been a huge growth in population and each of the feeder primary schools has recorded over the past number of years growth in enrolment as well. With the continuation in movement of population to the area and the number of houses being built there as well, it is evident that the primary schools and those feeder primary schools will continue to grow and that that will literally provide more and more students for Colostia, Doon and Rea. I had the opportunity to visit the school after school time some months ago and I saw there at first hand the pride that all the principal and all the staff take in ensuring that the best possible educational services are delivered to all the students attending Colostia, Doon and Rea. Thank you Deputy Minister. Thank you Deputy Minister. Thank you Deputy Minister. Again I am aware as you have said that when it opened in 2016 it was for 400 pupils and it is currently at 530 so there has been a huge growth there and I know the applications with the department since April 2019. Just to say to you that discussions are ongoing with the ETB to agree the long term projection if you like the long term projected enrolment for the school and that process is I am informed nearing very close completion and I am aware that the application that the school has made is for 11 general classrooms and 8 additional specialist rooms as well and just as I say to you on the positive side that the discussions with the ETB as regards the potential going forward and to finalise so that we don't find ourselves in this position I suppose down the line in terms of capacity of enrolment going forward that is nearing completion. Thank you Deputy Minister. Thank you Deputy Minister. Some time ago at the request of the Chairman of the Board of Management of Colostia, Doon and Rea Council, Clifford Kelly, I met the parents association and some of the staff and it was so clear to me the pride that they had taken their school and what the precautions they put in place with every safety guideline implemented very strictly that were given by public health and by your own department in regard to the provision of education at the present time. Councillor Clifford Kelly has been a powerful advocate for that school over many years. I have worked closely with him and with other public representatives in the local community. John Carney and his colleagues, the CEO of the ETB and his colleagues and Fergal Boyle, the principal of the school and all his staff colleagues, all of them work together as a team. They are very determined to get this application over the line to have that additional accommodation provided. Minister, I am aware of the projections and the long-term projections that the ETB provided in their application. I did some homework myself and I have to say that it is relatively conservative that the projected enrolment would be 815 by 2024. I have no doubt that the figures that have been provided to your department with the application are absolutely solid and that additional accommodation is needed. So, I would appreciate if it could be advanced as soon as possible. Minister. Thank you, Cianne Córle. Yes, I do appreciate the work that has been done to date. I do appreciate and you have referenced many individuals who have contributed to the development of the school and I think the fact from 400 to 530 and the projections that we are talking about now, I think that is testament to the hard work and the determination and the generosity of so many who are willing to work on a common agenda which is for the betterment of education provision in an area. So, I do want to acknowledge that and I do, as I say, acknowledge again that the department are currently finalising with the ETB the projected figures going forward, they will be adjudicated on and as quickly as is at all possible, there will be an adjudication on that. But again, Deputy, I do thank you for your determination and focus in moving this forward.