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1st August 2023
11:38am BST
Credit: Getty Images[/caption]
The group has also identified a shortfall of 2,135 places by 2026.
They added that this is above the figure of 600 the department says is the threshold for the approval of a new school.
According to a report by Dr Joanne Mancini, of Maynooth University, it was found that last year there was only enough space for 55% of the children leaving primary school in Dublin 8 – with only five schools to facilitate them.
The Department has now told parents that there is an Educate Together secondary school with available places in Sandymount in Dublin 4 available, meaning the commute would be 8.5km each way.
Speaking to the Irish Daily Mail, Fitzpatrick said: "Only 50 per cent of [people in] Dublin 8 have a car, according to the CSO. The children are getting a bus and a Luas to get to school and they could be cycling six to eight kilometres a day, in wind and rain, with heavy books on their backs.
"There have been campaigns on and off for years. This issue has been there for generations. Each generation moves on and then the next one takes over and the problem stays.
"We always knew there weren't enough places but it was never pointed out so starkly. We want to know why things are so different here than the more affluent suburbs. Norma Foley's department has been presented with the data on three separate occasions but we're getting a copy and paste response from her office."
