Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for his comments regarding free books for primary school children. As Minister of State with responsibility for special education, I was particularly pleased that special schools will for the very first time get schoolbooks which, as the Senator knows, means a huge amount to children with additional needs and their families. We are really pleased about that. I thank the Senator for acknowledging it.

Specifically with regard to Scoil Aonghusa, Ms Siobhan Keyes Ryan and Ms Ciara Ryan Gleeson do fantastic work and it has wonderful staff and children. Obviously, this application was made under the additional school accommodation scheme. It is under a new stream within that particular programme, which is called the reconfiguration and modular accommodation programme. It provides for the first time a project manager to assist the school authority with delivery. Projects that are being delivered under the scheme are devolved to the school authorities and it is a matter then for the schools to progress these projects on that basis, obviously, subject to departmental review at various points in the process, which is a good thing. The number of stages has been minimised to ensure the efficiency and efficacy of delivery while also maintaining the necessary governance structure that is required. The project manager will visit the school site and, in consultation with the school authority, will prepare what they call a viability report to identify the best accommodation solution for the Department’s consideration and approval. That is just to put in into context.

On approval, the Department will then notify the school authority directly that it may proceed to the next stage subject to its agreement of the final project brief, as they call it. The Department will then issue funding for the project. I am pleased to advise the Senator that a meeting has already been arranged between the school authority and the project manager as part of the process outlined. My understanding is that the actual specification of the brief for Scoil Aonghusa is ten classrooms, five of which are general. There are three junior special educational needs, SEN, classrooms and two classrooms for moderate pupils. That is my understanding of what the approval is. It is an absolutely fantastic school. The work it does is phenomenal, particularly for children with additional needs. It is brilliant that there is going to be extra SEN accommodation in the additional school accommodation that is envisaged. If more schools were like it, the world would be a better place for children with additional needs. I want to very much commend the school and, indeed, the work the Senator is doing in that regard.