Taoiseach to meet East Cork principals over secondary place shortage
Micheál Martin is to speak with principals in the area in the coming weeks to discuss what can be done to address the shortages.
The Taoiseach is to meet virtually with local principals in East Cork to discuss the shortage of secondary school places affecting approximately 150 families this year.
Micheál Martin is to speak with principals in the area in the coming weeks to discuss what can be done to address the shortages.
Earlier this week, the reported that St Mary’s in Midleton wishes to accept more students and open a second ASD class, but cannot as its space is maxed out.
The school currently has an application with the department for a new building.
There are close to 50 students on its waiting list that have indicated they have not applied to another school.
The Department of Education's reaction to the shortage has "not been up to scratch", according to James O'Connor, Fianna Fáil TD for Cork East.
“I believe the Department has ignored that the demographics of the population in East Cork is extremely young, and that there is a high percentage of secondary school children coming through that would overwhelm the capacity of the local secondary school.
"There should have been alarm bells ringing in Marlborough Street and in Tullamore. At this stage we should be well underway to identifying a new site for a school in East Cork.
"What does concern me is that we are looking at a situation in September where there could be children with no school place, that's simply not good enough."
A spokesman for the Department of Education said a lack of accommodation may not be the only factor for capacity issues.
Instead it might be due to issues around duplication of applications, or that students can't get a place in their preferred school while there are places elsewhere.
Some areas have just single sex schools, and schools may have pupils coming from outside the local area.
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