Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 4 October 2023
114. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Education the reason an application for additional accommodation which was urgently required by a DEIS school in County Mayo (details supplied) has been refused; to outline, in full, the reason this application was unsuccessful; if this decision can be appealed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42962/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraI can confirm to the Deputy, that my Department received an application from the school in question for capital funding, under my Department's Additional School Accommodation (ASA) scheme.
The purpose of the ASA scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream classroom and Special Education Needs (SEN) accommodation 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 a new SEN class has been sanctioned by the NCSE, and all available alternative accommodation within the school is already being used for classroom purposes.
The application for the ASA scheme was assessed by my officials and it was found that the school had sufficient accommodation available to cater for its current cohort of staff and pupils. A decision was therefore made to refuse this application and the decision was conveyed directly to the school authorities.
The application also included a request for a GP Hall, which does not come within the remit of the ASA scheme. The main focus of my Department’s resources over the last decade and for the coming period is on provision of additional capacity to cater for increasing demographics particularly at post-primary level, and for provision to meet the needs of children with special educational needs. My Department has successfully supported and facilitated the enrolment of over 14,000 children from Ukraine in our primary and post primary schools.
Under Project Ireland 2040 the education sector will receive a total of approximately €5 billion capital investment over the period 2021-2025. There will be a rolling 5 year funding envelope which will be updated annually for the period 2026 to 2030 within the Government’s overall NDP funding envelope of €136 billion in exchequer capital (€165 billion total capital including non-Exchequer) that will facilitate building a modern and sustainable school infrastructure.
This significant investment allows us to move forward with certainty on our ambitious plans and deliver high quality building projects, with a real focus on sustainability, for school communities across Ireland. The strengthened focus on refurbishment of existing school stock will have different strands and will include a PE build and modernisation programme.
My Department will continue to work to ensure that capital investment in our schools is targeted in the most efficient and effective way to support schools in meeting the education needs of their students and local communities.
Details of large-scale projects being delivered under the school building programme may be viewed on my Department's website at, www.gov.ie and this information is updated regularly. In addition, a list of large-scale projects completed from 2010 to date may also be viewed on the website.
It is open to the school in question to submit an application for my Department's ASA scheme if there is a change to their enrolments which cannot be managed within the existing building. Any application will be considered by my officials and a decision conveyed directly to the school authorities.
