Michael Lowry (Tipperary, Independent)
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523. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of an application for additional accommodation by a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52622/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department is in receipt of an application, for additional school accommodation, from the school authority in question.

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.

Officials from my Department recently completed a technical assessment of the school. The school authority have been advised to submit a revised Emergency Works Application for funding to remediate the issues identified as opposed to an ASA application. The school authority will be contacted directly with a decision following the receipt and assessment of this revised application.