School places

Myself and Cllr Pamela Conroy attended the meeting in Kavanaghs along with many parents and local representatives. At the meeting, we heard that the Department of Education has informed Dublin and Dun Laoghaire Education Training Board (DDLETB) that it will provide a modular build for CCC to meet its immediate accommodation needs for the 2024-25 school year, and follow this with a traditional construction build for the rest of the additional capacity.

This is a welcome commitment by the Department of Education. However, in light of delays that have been experienced previously in terms of the delivery of new or additional school buildings, I have written to Minister Foley seeking clarification of a) whether the commitment for the modular build for the 2024-25 year means that the new modular build would be ready by August 2024 to facilitate use throughout the full academic year and b) could the Department provide a clearer timeline regarding the delivery of  the permanent build.

Clarity on the delivery of extra accommodation for Aug/Sept 2024 may allow the Board of CCC review the number of classes it is taking next September.

In relation to those students who have not received a school place offer as yet, the next key step is the meeting of the principles from the secondary schools, so they can identify how many students have offers across two schools. Once we know this information, we will have a more clear understanding of how many students have no school place, and then see what steps we can take to address that.