Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

544. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when a decision will be made on an application for additional accommodation submitted by a school (details supplied) in County Galway; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52865/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department received an application under the Additional School Accommodation (ASA) scheme from the school authority in question.

The purpose of the ASA scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream classroom and Special Educational 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 my Department's 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 ASA application from the school in question was assessed by my Department in this context and the school have been notified of the decision.