2026-03-19

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach Gníomhach as ucht an deis labhairt ar an gceist thábhachtach agus phráinneach seo a bhaineann ní hamháin le Gaelscoil Chluain Dolcáin ach le Gaelscoil na Camóige i mo Dháilcheantar. Tá an t-ádh dearg ar Chluain Dolcáin go bhfuil dhá Ghaelscoil den scoth againn, ach turas fada a bhí ann do Ghaelscoil na Camóige foirgneamh buan a bhaint amach, foirgneamh atá anois á thógáil. Tá Gaelscoil Chluain Dolcáin lán go béal agus an foirgneamh nua sin ag teastáil. Today, I am speaking on behalf of Gaelscoil Chluain Dolcáin about an issue that not only affects it but also affects Gaelscoil na Camóige in my constituency. We are lucky in Clondalkin to have two excellent Gaelscoilleanna in Gaelscoil na Camóige and Gaelscoil Chluain Dolcáin. I am an alumnus of Coláiste Chilliain, which will also be on the same campus. Gaelscoil na Camóige has had a long journey to finally arrive at its permanent building, which is being constructed at this moment, while Gaelscoil Chluain Dolcáin is full and needs the new space and needs the space that is part of the school building project. The reason I am here today is because a decision has been taken by the Department in the past few months that will adversely affect not only the growth of those schools but also the identity of those schools as well. I am standing here in the Dáil today to ask for a revision of that decision or at least consideration of what it will mean for both schools. It was agreed that both these schools would be 16-classroom buildings and that was the initial project that was agreed on. However, at planning stage, following a request from the Department, both schools agreed to include extensions for two additional classrooms that would facilitate special education classrooms. The Minister of State and I know that this is a priority for the Government in terms of delivering those spaces. The schools were then informed earlier this year that those special education classrooms would not proceed on the basis of budget issues but what is surprising to me is that they were told that projected demographic trends would be the issue underpinning the reason for not requiring those additional rooms. The alternative that was put to those schools was that Gaelscoil Chluain Dolcáin could use some of the empty classrooms in Gaelscoil na Camóige, thus necessitating travel between the two schools. Clondalkin is right beside a new strategic development zone in Clonburris and it is in one of the fastest-growing constituencies in the State, Dublin Mid-West. There is a very clear and apparent need for schools and, more important, there is a clear and apparent demand for Gaelscoileanna agis oideachas trí mheán na Gaeilge. This needs to be acknowledged. In addition, we also know that there is a need to rapidly address the provision of special educational places in all schools in the greater Clondalkin area. There is provision required for special educational needs, SEN, classrooms. With both of those matters in mind, we know that Gaelscoil na Camóige will reach full capacity in a number of years. We know that new estates such as Seven Mills and all the others being built inside the Clonburris strategic development zone will have new families moving into them whose children will require access to education. I hope many them avail of the opportunity to achieve oideachas trí mheán na Gaeilge. I am concerned that this is a short-sighted decision that is limiting the possible expansion of Gaelscoil na Camóige and that is not taking account of demographic trends. I accept the Department's bona fides with regard to the overall need for education falling nationally but in the rapidly growing areas adjacent to Clonburris, namely Clondalkin, Lucan and Adamstown, that is not the case. It is quite the reverse. We are going to have a greater demand for school places. Oideachas trí mheán na Gaeilge is very important. Oideachtas speisialta na Gaeilge is equally important. In an area such as Cluain Dolcáin that has a líonra Gaeilge status, it is important that it is treasured and honoured in the buildings that are put in place. Planning approval has been secured for the SEN extensions. That will lapse within four years if we do not take action in respect of it immediately. I am asking that the decision that has been made be reconsidered and that we save the money that we are going to have to spend in a few years' time when we have to construct the extra buildings in order to make the additional provision that we know is coming down the track and that South Dublin County Council has been told to take into account in terms of revising its zoning projections for the population growth in the area in the future. I look forward to the Minister of State's response.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue because it gives me the opportunity, on behalf of the Minister for Education and Youth, to outline to the Dáil the position regarding Gaelscoil Chluain Dolcáin in County Dublin. Gaelscoil Chluain Dolcáin is under the patronage of the Archbishop of Dublin. It is located in the Clondalkin-D22 school planning area and has an enrolment of 445 pupils. The Department of Education and Youth is delivering a large-scale major project to provide adjoining new permanent accommodation for both Gaelscoil Chluain Dolcáin and another primary school on the same site. Construction on this project is well advanced, with an expected completion date in the fourth quarter of this year. The school authorities were advised that it was necessary to make provision for special education at the two school buildings due to the significantly increased demand for special classes in their school planning area. The Department examined various options for how best to meet this need including the feasibility of expanding the current scale of the project. However, due to the availability of spare classrooms in the current overall school project and the projected falling mainstream demographics at primary level, the Department decided that the use of these spare mainstream classrooms for special education provision was consistent with the education and youth sector Sectoral Capital Plan 2026-2030. This decision was outlined to the school authorities in detail at a meeting with Department officials in January 2026. While the national development plan, NDP, funding of €7.5 billion for school capital projects is substantial, the Department must manage the progression of a large pipeline of projects and meet the substantially increased need for special education provision within this funding. The Department prioritises projects to balance urgency, equity and available resources, ensuring that investments are sustainable and provide maximum value for money. This includes the optimum use of existing accommodation, particularly surplus accommodation. This allows the Department to keep a strong focus on the provision of additional capacity to cater for demographics, new housing developments and the roll-out of additional special classes for children with additional needs. This approach reflects the Department's fundamental objective of ensuring the availability of a school place for every child. Since 2020, the Department has provided over €1,824 million in capital funding for Dublin schools. Over this period, a total of 245 schools have been upgraded through provision of a new school building, a large-scale extension or provision of modular accommodation. There are currently 60 school projects in Dublin under construction. I assure the Deputy that the Department of Education and Youth will support the schools in the practical arrangements for implementing this decision and has organised a meeting between the school authorities and the project's design team in order to explore practical solutions to address issues raised by the schools. Department officials remain committed to working with the school authorities in relation to this matter. I also assure the Deputy that the Department will keep the ongoing position relating to the demand for places in the Clondalkin-D22 school planning area under review. While the Department is aware of enrolment pressures and demand for additional school places in some areas, it is important to note that enrolment pressures can be driven by duplication of applications, applications from outside an area and school-of-choice factors. The Department will continue to liaise with local authorities in respect of their county development plan and any associated local area plans with a view to identifying any potential long-term school accommodation requirements across school planning areas.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as ucht an fhreagra sin. Tuigim nach féidir leis an Aire oideachais a bheith anseo tráthnóna. With the greatest respect, the general point is being missed here. I am not talking about enrolment pressures. I am talking about the fact that South Dublin County Council has been told to rezone land on the basis of increased baseline population growth. We are then told in the same answer that the D22 school planning area is not necessarily taking account of the foreseen population growth that will be in this area. We know we will be coming back here again looking for possibly modular buildings on a school site with two buildings that have planning permission for the extensions that they were asked to consider last July. This is the opportunity for us to get this right and to get the school buildings in place now rather than limiting the growth of Gaelscoil na Camóige in the future in order to ensure that Gaelscoil Chluain Dolcáin has the space it needs to continue to thrive and, importantly, to champion and to ensure that the facility and the option exists for parents who want to send their children to a Gaelscoil to either receive mainstream education or special education, that they can do so trí mheán na Gaeilge and that there will not be an artificial cap put on the growth of either of those in this instance. We know that the patron has previously indicated concerns around special educational provision in that general area. When it comes to the question of the practicalities of moving between the schools, I have to ask the Department in all seriousness how it will manage a situation where it has two classes from one school being educated in another. How are they going to manage that in terms of health and safety? While they are on the same site, they are two different buildings. More importantly, they are two different schools. In particular, Gaelscoil na Camóige has waited a long time to have its permanent building. Gaelscoil Chluain Dolcáin has an identity in its own right. While I welcome the Department is willing to look at practical options, the better option here is for it to get the extension that has planning approval put in place, not to find ourselves going back to the well in possibly less than two years' time when people and families start moving into Clonburris. I urge the Department to reconsider this decision and to work with the school authorities, the patrons and the boards of management to reinstate what was there and to make practical arrangements for growth that we know is going to happen in those populations in the future.

Once again, I thank the Deputy for providing me with the opportunity, on behalf of the Minister for education, to outline the position in relation to Gaelscoil Chluain Dolcáin. The Deputy asked me to refer this to the Minister on his behalf. I can promise that I will certainly do so because I can see that it is an issue of real concern, for the Deputy and, I presume, many of his constituents. I will do that. The Deputy will be aware that the Minister, Deputy Naughton, recently published the €7.55 billion NDP sectoral investment plan for the education and youth sectors. Of the total €7.55 billion investment, it is envisaged that circa €5 billion will be used for project roll-out to support the delivery and modernisation of school buildings across the large-scale additional accommodation and modular programmes. The Deputy will appreciate that the Department is required to ensure that the capital funding allocated to the Department is managed across all schools in the country. Indeed, a significant project has been approved for the school in question and will shortly be available for the school's use. As previously stated, Department officials remain available to work school authorities. That is what the Deputy is asking here, and I can tell him that is what it says in the response. They will provide support in any arrangements required to implement the decision regarding their new accommodation. Finally, I assure the Deputy that the accommodation demands and enrolment pressures of both the schools in question, as well as the wider school area planning, will be kept under ongoing review by the Department. As he will be aware, the project brief for this campus project includes construction of two new adjoining 16-classroom primary schools, with a PE hall for a separate post-primary school on a shared campus. I note the most recent nationwide demographic analysis I spoke of earlier was completed in 2023.