No room in class for 100 children
The party’s finance spokesperson Joan Burton said a crisis is looming in Dublin 15, which is one of the most quickly developing areas in the country. She said two primary schools with capacity for just 180 junior infants next September have had more than 350 applications. While some parents may have had their children’s names down for a number of schools, it appears that dozens of them could have to be enrolled in schools outside their community.
“I’ve been inundated with complaints from parents who put their children’s names down for their local school, but who have been told they can’t be accommodated because of huge numbers looking for places,” she said.
Ms Burton said a third school in the area, Castaheany Educate Together, also faces uncertainty as it awaits the provision of a prefab as its temporary home. The Department of Education has yet to acquire a site for the school, whose pupils have been travelling to Lucan every day since last autumn.
Ms Burton called on Education Minister Mary Hanafin to set up a task force to deal with the school places crisis manifesting itself in the area.
The Department of Education said it is confident that a number of immediate measures to increase capacity at existing schools, and the development of new schools, will alleviate demand for pupil places in the area.
A spokeswoman said a building project to increase capacity at a school in Huntstown is nearing completion and officials are in discussions with another primary school on expanding its capacity.
She said temporary accommodation will be provided to meet Castaheany Educate Together school’s immediate needs for next September.
Provisions have also been made to enable two other schools to offer increased places, while a decision will be made soon on an application to set up a new Educate Together primary school in Tyrellstown.
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