Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 June 2023
559. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Education to outline how, in the event that temporary accommodation is not provided in time for the commencement of the 2023-2024 academic year, schools are to deal with students who are in excess of accommodation capacity; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27812/23]
View answerI can assure the Deputy that my Department is working to ensure that there is appropriate school accommodation in place to meet the school place needs of all children. In the first instance, this is focussed on ensuring that the use of existing school accommodation capacity is fully optimised.
The purpose of my Department's Additional School Accommodation (ASA) scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream and special education classroom accommodation is available to cater for pupils enrolled each year and where the need cannot be met by the school’s existing accommodation. Where there is a need for accelerated delivery of such accommodation my Department utilises Modern Methods of Construction, including my Department's Modular Accommodation Framework, to meet the accommodation need. My Department has additionally put Project Management provision in place to support schools in the expedited delivery of this accommodation.
In addition, my Department is liaising with all schools that have accommodation requirements for the coming school year in relation to their contingency planning arrangements and any supports required for same.
