Seán Sherlock
Question:281. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Education to address concerns regarding a building proposal for a school (details supplied). [33828/23]
View answerTuesday, 11 July 2023
Questions (281)
Written answers
The school to which the Deputy refers was granted initial approval for the provision of modular accommodation in respect of one mainstream classroom, two special education teaching rooms and one special education classroom under my Department's Additional School Accommodation scheme. Urgently required school accommodation is being supported where possible by my Department's Reconfiguration and Modular Accommodation programme. The Department assigned a project manager to the school and a project viability report was submitted to the Department following an on-site visit. The Department will be in touch with the school shortly in order to discuss the most appropriate method of progressing this project in light of the technical and possible statutory requirements identified by the project manager’s report.
This Reconfiguration and Modular Accommodation involves the use of Project Management supports which is designed to enable the accommodation to be provided as quickly as possible and help ease the administrative workload for school authorities in relation to the management and delivery of projects. The use of the Department’s Modular Accommodation Framework also assists in ensuring lead in periods for procurement of modular accommodation are minimised to the greatest extent possible. To date, this has worked very well in the education sector and has seen delivery of large scale, high quality modular accommodation to meet the needs of children, particularly those with special educational needs.
However, the wider context in relation to the overall modular market at present is challenging with modular accommodation suppliers being very busy across commercial, housing and other sectors. The Department is working closely with the Project Management teams and the modular accommodation suppliers to ensure additional capacity for the schools sector is delivered as quickly as possible.
The Department is working closely with school authorities which require contingency planning arrangements and putting any necessary supports in place.