Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 12 February 2026
113. Deputy Erin McGreehan asked the Minister for Education and Youth her plans to address overcrowding in schools in Louth, and not-fit-for purpose school buildings, given the increasing population in the county. [10849/26]
View answerMy department has a robust forward planning process which considers population and enrolment data in order to plan for school provision and respond to population changes.
My department uses a geographic information system which facilitates the analysis of data from a range of sources, including CSO census data, child benefit, school enrolment data, residential development activity and information about existing school capacity to identify where the pressure for school places across the country will arise and where additional school accommodation is needed.
This forward planning has underpinned the expansion of existing schools and establishment of new schools, including the three new post-primary schools that have been established in County Louth since 2014. More recently, over €6 billion has been invested in schools across the country since 2020, including over €118 million at schools in County Louth.
On the whole across the county, enrolments are trending downwards with both Junior Infant and First Year intakes declining. However, there is some continued localised demographic pressure in areas of very significant housing development and associated population growth. In the first instance, maximising existing school accommodation capacity will be important in addressing such local school place needs.
As part of my department’s €7.55 billion NDP Sectoral Investment Plan, €5 billion will support prioritised and targeted project rollout with a focus on addressing capacity pressures that cannot be met within existing accommodation across an area, particularly for children with special education needs. In that context, 6 schools in Louth were included in my department’s list of prioritised projects to proceed to tender or construction over 2026 and 2027.
Other capacity requirements in Louth and elsewhere will continue to be kept under review to inform the prioritisation of the next tranche of projects to proceed to tender, and to identify any more immediate school place requirements which may require an accommodation solution.
