OPPOSITION TDs have called on the Minister for Education, Ms Breathnach, to take steps to ease what they say is a severe shortage of primary school places in many parts of Dublin.
Schools in some inner suburbs report long waiting lists this year, the result of the renewed popularity of living near the city centre and the sale of religious owned land for housing development.
In Blackrock, a shortage of places in Carysfort national school led the local Progressive Democrat TD, Ms Helen Keogh to claim in the Dail last month that there was a "total lack of liaison" between the Department of Education and the schools on projected pupil enrolments.
Some 87 children had to be refused entry to Carysfort this year, even though 40 of these were from the local catchment area. Ms Keogh says more overcrowding is expected next year.
She has called on the Minister to liaise more closely with schools to see if extra places are needed in response to population increases.
In Milltown, the closure of St Anne's primary school has increased the pressure on schools in Rathmines and Ranelagh, all of which were already full.
The Sisters of Charity cited falling enrolments as the main reason for closing St Anne's, though this was not accepted at the time by parents and teachers who fought unsuccessfully for the school to remain open.
The nuns sold the site for £8 million to a developer who is currently seeking planning permission for 450 houses and apartments on the site, some of them costing up to £250,000. The resulting development is likely to increase further the pressure on school places in the area.
The demand for places in Carysfort national school can partly be explained by its popularity with local parents.
However, the situation has been exacerbated by the construction of hundreds of houses on former religious owned sites in the area over the past decade.
Fianna Fail's education spokesman, Mr Micheal Martin, says the Department should have a system for planning the future accommodation of children in primary schools. "Otherwise, we're waiting around for disasters to happen.
According to Ms Breathnach, the planning of future enrolment needs is one of the issues that will be tackled by the newly established commission on school accommodation needs. However, primary schools were privately owned and the Department could only work in partnership with them.
