242. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Education and Youth the position regarding any back up plans in relation to the provision of school places in Cherrywood, County Dublin if a new school is not in place for September 2028 when it is known that demand will increase due to significant population growth in this area (details supplied). [66364/26]

I 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.

The school building project referred to by the Deputy will provide a new 1,000 pupil post-primary school building and accommodation, including classrooms for children with special educational needs. The project, which has planning permission, will be delivered under my Department's Design and Build Programme which uses a professional external Project Manager to progress the project through the relevant stages of architectural planning, tender, and construction.

Further analysis has since been conducted on the necessity for the establishment of the planned new school taking into account a number of factors including the pace of delivery of the expected additional residential development in the Cherrywood SDZ area, associated enrolments and the capacity in existing schools in the school planning area.

My department is satisfied that existing demand can be accommodated at present by the existing and growing schools in the school planning area. As a result, the establishment of the planned new post primary school has been deferred.

There are 7 Post Primary schools in the Sallynoggin_Killiney school planning area. Blackrock Educate Together Secondary School, is currently located in Cherrywood, in an interim capacity. There are 3 fee charging post primary schools in this school planning area. Data available to my department for the 2025/26 academic year highlights that over 15% of first year places were unfilled across the school planning areas of Sallynoggin_Killiney.

Analysis of data in my department indicates that there is capacity in existing schools in the school planning area, and in the neighbouring school planning areas.

Earlier this year my department published the €7.55 billion NDP Sectoral Investment Plan for the Education and Youth Sectors for the period 2026 to 2030. This NDP Sectoral Plan involves a very strong emphasis on maximising existing capacity and prioritisation of school building projects to meet the most urgent needs. In this regard there will be a strong special education dimension to project rollout.

The first tranche of 105 school building projects includes 80 large scale and Additional School Accommodation scheme projects. These projects were prioritised with a strong focus on maximising existing capacity and prioritising project rollout to meet the most urgent needs particularly to support special education needs provision.

I recognise that there are schools with important building projects that are not included in the first tranche of prioritised projects. As part of planning ahead for the next tranche of projects to progress to tender, the department-led prioritisation process will continue over the course of 2026 and 2027 to assess and evaluate the progression of individual projects through the design pipeline having regard to the continual need to maximise existing capacity and determine the prioritised needs going forward. This process will involve engagement with key stakeholders and will ultimately inform the next tranches of programme rollout to tender.

The 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.

Parents have the right to choose which school to apply to and where the school has places available the pupil should be admitted. However, in schools where there are more applicants than places available a selection process may be necessary. This selection process and the enrolment policy on which it is based must be non-discriminatory and must be applied fairly in respect of all applicants. However, this may result in some pupils not obtaining a place in the school of their first choice.

The Educational Welfare Services of the Child and Family Agency, Tusla, is the statutory agency that can assist parents who are experiencing difficulty in securing a school place for their child. The local service is delivered through the national network of Educational Welfare Officers. Contact details are available on Tusla’s website

In accordance with the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018 parents have the right to choose which school to apply to and where the school has places available for the relevant year, the student should be admitted.

I want to assure the Deputy that my department will keep the school place requirements in Sallynoggin_Killiney school planning area (which includes Cherrywood) under review.