Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 October 2023
254. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Education her plans to assist with the shrinking play area at a school (details supplied) due to building extensions and a growing school population; if the current situation regarding inadequate parking space at the school will be reviewed and addressed, including ongoing safety issues presenting due to same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45191/23]
View answerI wish to advise the Deputy, that my Department is not in receipt of a current application from the school in question, for the Additional School Accommodation (ASA) 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.
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.
I can confirm to the Deputy that my Department has very recently received correspondence from the school in question regarding retrospective funding for the play area at the school. Officials in my Department will consider the correspondence received and will liaise with the school authority directly.
As part of it’s planning for 2023 and beyond, Department officials are working on the arrangements for the next phases of the summer works programme. It is envisaged at this stage that, a new Multi-Annual SWS with a focus on climate action and energy conservation will be opened for new applications in late 2023 or early 2024 for delivery of projects on a phased basis from 2024 onwards. Schools will be notified of the details of the SWS in due course.
The purpose of the Summer Works Scheme (SWS) is to devolve funding to individual school authorities to undertake small-scale building works which, ideally, can be carried out during the summer months or at other times that avoid disrupting the operation of the school. The SWS operates on a multi-annual basis and was last opened for applications in 2019. It will be open to the school in question to apply for funding under the Summer Works Scheme.
