Seán Crowe
Question:297. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Education whether there are plans for an ASD unit to be put in place at a school (details supplied) given its size and the present demand for such services. [18983/24]
View answerTuesday, 30 April 2024
Questions (297)
Written answers
I can confirm to the Deputy, that my Department has received an application for capital funding, under the Additional School Accommodation (ASA) scheme, from the school authority in question.
The purpose of my Department’s 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.
The consideration of the accommodation requirements for the school in question forms part of the Planning and Building Unit’s overall assessment of its work programme and priorities in the context of available capital funding.
I can assure the Deputy that the provision of required school places, including for children with special educational needs, is a priority for my Department and my officials are working to ensure that there is sufficient provision to meet the school place needs in the school in question and the wider School Planning Area for future years.
Since 2020, the Department of Education has invested in the region of €4.5 billion in our schools throughout the country, involving the completion of over 800 school building projects with construction currently underway at approximately 300 other projects, which includes 31 new school buildings. The 300 projects currently at construction involve a total State investment of over €1.2bn. This is a record level of investment in our schools and highlights the Government’s very strong track record of delivery in providing additional capacity and modern facilities for our school communities.
The application for the school question has been assessed and on foot of this assessment technical input was sought from the Department's Professional and Technical Division. Their advice is now being considered by the Department, to determine the scope of any project that can be approved here.
I can confirm that Departmental officials have had on-going engagement with this school during this process and once a decision is reached the school authorities will be contacted directly.