Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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302. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will approve building works for a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46651/23]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I can confirm to the Deputy, that the school in question was approved capital funding under my Department's Additional School Accommodation (ASA) Scheme in 2023 for modular accommodation and this project is currently devolved to the school authorities for delivery. The Department anticipate that works will commence on site in the coming weeks with an estimated delivery time of early 2024.

I wish to confirm that my Department just recently received a further application from the school authority in question under the ASA scheme following a request from the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) to enroll additional pupils at the school. Officials in my Department are engaging with the school authority and the NCSE regarding this second application to determine the medium and long term requirements at the school. When the assessment process has been finalised, the school authorities will be notified directly.

The purpose of my Department’s Additional School Accommodation (or ASA) scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream classroom accommodation and accommodation for pupils with special education needs is available to cater for pupils enrolled each year, where the need cannot be met by the school’s existing accommodation.

At primary level, this situation generally arises to cater for a school’s accommodation requirements where an additional teaching post has been sanctioned by Teacher Allocation Section, or the requirement for a new class for pupils with special education needs has been identified by the NCSE, and all available alternative accommodation within the school is already being used for classroom purposes.

Over the last two years, the Department and the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) have worked closely on a more streamlined and joined up planning process which has ensured a targeted approach to meet demand for special education placements ahead of each new school year.

The Department continues to work with the NCSE in relation to the short-term requirements for special class and special school places and also the more strategic and longer-term requirements.