Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

No pressure.

I thank the Deputy for raising the question. I confirm that the school to which the Deputy referred was approved for funding in 2017 to provide a mainstream classroom, two resource rooms and a WC for assisted users. The project is devolved to the school authority for delivery. This means that the school itself engages a design team to bring the project through the design stages and on to construction.

The school authority recently submitted its stage 2b report to my Department for approval. This is the detailed design stage of the architectural planning process. The contents would be expected to be in line with the accommodation approved.

However, in this instance, the accommodation outlined in the report exceeds that originally approved by my Department. This has a consequential impact on funding. I understand that the school is offering to make some of its own funding available to offset the additional cost.

The stage 2b report will be fully examined by my Department. Given that the accommodation approved does not coincide with that outlined in the report, this will also now require a review of the schools long-term accommodation needs. This will be done as quickly as possible and a decision will issue directly to the school authority as soon as it is available.

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