Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 January 2026
1134. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Education and Youth the reason a school (details supplied) in County Mayo was restricted to 100 student's enrolment for September 2025 when they had capacity to take 144 students. [74798/25]
View answerMy Department works closely with school patrons in order to ensure that there are sufficient school places available for all children in Westport each September. In order to cater for Westport’s longer-term educational provision at post primary level, my Department is investing in two substantial capital projects in the town. A large-scale major capital project was approved for Sacred Heart Secondary School which will provide a new replacement school for 600 pupils including special educational provision. Rice College was approved a significant additional school accommodation project to provide appropriate accommodation for 600 pupils also including special education provision.
My Department’s ongoing engagement with the patron bodies of the post-primary schools in Westport will ensure that there are sufficient post-primary school places across the two schools and to support the sustainable provision of high-quality post-primary education in the town. Enrolment pressures can be driven by duplications of applications, applications from outside an area, and school of choice factors. My Department's main responsibility is to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking school places and that existing capacity is optimised and sustainably managed to avoid unsustainable enlargement of one school at the expense of another in an area.
I wish to advise the Deputy, both schools opened their admissions processes in October and my Department requested information on applications to both schools for first-year places for 2026/2027 to aid its understanding of capacity requirements in Westport for next September. The Department has received the requested enrolment data from both schools which highlights that there are more places available across the two schools than children seeking first year places in the town.
Furthermore, in order to plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data, my Department divides the country into 314 school planning areas including Westport and uses a geographical information system, using 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. In July, the Government announced a capital allocation of €7.55 billion for the Department of Education and Youth for the period 2026-2030 under the National Development Plan (NDP). My Department expects to publish its own NDP Implementation Plan shortly. This plan will optimise outputs from the NDP allocations, with a strong focus on maximising existing school capacity, progressing priority projects where local capacity across schools in the area is insufficient, and ensuring delivery that is affordable, offers value for money, and meets functional needs. This approach is reflected in the large investment which the Department is making in both existing post primary schools in Westport.
While some applicants may not yet have received an offer of a school place for 2026/2027, families can be assured that all children who require a school place will be provided with one. My Department will continue to work with, and support, schools to ensure that there are sufficient places for all students.
