Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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127. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide additional modular classroom accommodation with toilets for a school (details supplied) which, due to increased enrolment and inadequate facilities, is facing severe space constraints despite the appointment of an additional teacher; if she agrees that immediate support is needed to ensure a conducive to learning; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45605/24]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I can confirm to the Deputy, that to date the school in question has not submitted an application for capital funding, under my Department's Additional School Accommodation Scheme.

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 or at other schools in the area.

Since 2020, my Department has invested over €5 billion in our schools throughout the country, involving the completion of over 950 school building projects and with construction currently underway at approximately 350 other projects, which includes 37 new school buildings. These 350 projects currently at construction involve a total State investment of over €1.5bn. The Department announced earlier this year that close to 90 projects, including 28 new school buildings, would be authorised to proceed from tender stage to construction over the course of 2024 and early 2025. In total, around €800 million will be invested in these projects under the department’s Large Scale Capital Programme and Additional Accommodation Scheme for essential classroom accommodation. Between projects currently under construction and projects moving to construction in this latest phase, investments by the Department of Education are adding over 550,000 square metres of new and modernised capacity to our school estate.

This is a record level of investment in school buildings. It will expand the number of school places, significantly increase provision for special education and upgrade and modernise our school infrastructure. The impact of this will be felt in communities right around the country. The key drivers of capital investment in the schools sector include:

• demographic growth, particularly at post primary level

• increased demand for special educational needs provision

• alignment of school place provision with new housing development

• climate action objectives including deep energy retrofit.

It is open to the school in question to submit an application for the ASA scheme, details are available on my Department's website . Any application submitted will be assessed by my officials and a decision will issue to the school authorities directly.