Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 15 April 2026
236. Deputy Tom Brabazon asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of junior infant enrolments in the Donaghmede Dublin 13 school planning area for September 2026 and September 2027, in tabular form. [27385/26]
View answerI can assure the Deputy that the provision of school places to meet the needs of children and young people at primary and post primary level, including children and young people with special educational needs is an absolute priority of mine.
In order to plan for school provision and analyse the relevant demographic data, my department divides the country into 314 school planning areas 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.
My Department's main responsibility is to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking school places in the area. In relation to school admissions, it is the responsibility of the managerial authorities of all schools to implement an enrolment policy in accordance with the Education Act, 1998.
I wish to advise the Deputy, the Department does not produce projections on a standard by school planning area basis.
The provision of primary school places and the operation of admissions processes are matters for individual school authorities, in line with their published admissions policies and relevant legislation. Schools determine their own intake numbers and maintain their own enrolment and waiting list information.
The Department does not centrally collate or hold a definitive dataset of available places or waiting lists by school planning area.
Information on junior infant intake numbers for individual schools is published in each school’s Admissions Notice on their respective websites.
In academic year 2024-2025, the latest year we have final standard data available, there were 549 pupils in mainstream junior infants classes in the Donaghmede Dublin 13 school planning area. We expect to publish enrolments by standard data for 2025-2026 in June 2026.
