School Accommodation
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-04
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Duncan Smith (LAB), Dublin Fingal East

It is difficult to find some comfort in the Minister of State's response for my constituents in Portmarnock. The current school year was bad because some students missed out and had to travel awkward distances to other schools for placement. Based on projections, it seems very likely that some siblings will not get into St. Marnock's National School in the coming year. That information is from good sources and the situation is only going to be compounded.
The issue with Portmarnock is not just that it has new estates, but that the traditional part of the village has also seen major regeneration. A lot of younger families are moving into the houses that have been there for a long time. Pressures are increasing and we need a temporary or quick solution for the upcoming academic year. The Department needs to re-examine how it determines where resources need to go and how school planning areas are constructed. There are two main primary schools in Portmarnock, with a third, St. Nicholas of Myra National School, just outside the village. They are the schools for Portmarnock. They need investment. Pupils can walk and cycle to them safely, which is everything we want for local schooling as regards how pupils travel to school.
I ask the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Naughton, to put in place a proper solution for this issue. If we start pushing out enrolment dates to require that students be five years old at enrolment and put at risk the ability of siblings to enrol, we really are in a bad place, and it is a place we could avoid with some better planning.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-04/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:43+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-04