Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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426. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide a list of all active school accommodation projects in County Mayo, in tabular form; the details of projects currently under consideration; the status of each project; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16299/22]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Under Project Ireland 2040, the education sector will receive a total of approximately €4.4 billion capital investment over the period 2021-2025. 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. This investment will build on the good progress being made on adding capacity to cater for demographic changes and provision for children with special educational needs. This investment will also facilitate an increased focus on the modernisation of existing school stock and help transition the school system for an era of net zero carbon by 2050.

During the period 2018 to 2021 691 school building projects were completed which delivered in excess of 64,000 school places. 29 of these projects are in Co. Mayo.

There is a large pipeline of projects for delivery under the school building programme. The main elements of this pipeline currently involve in excess of 1,200 school building projects for delivery under the Department’s Large Scale and Additional Accommodation Scheme. These projects are currently in progress across the various stages of planning, design, tender and construction. Most of which are expected to be either under construction or completed in the period up to 2025.

There are currently in excess of 250 school building projects at construction (on site) with a continuous stream of other projects at or near the tendering stage. These are being progressed as quickly as possible. It is anticipated that 150 to 200 school building projects will be completed annually during the 2022 to 2025 period.

The current status of projects being delivered is listed on a county by county basis on www.gov.ieand is updated on a monthly basis to reflect their progress through the various stages.

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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427. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the approval for additional accommodation at a school (details supplied); the recent communication that has taken place with the school on the application; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16300/22]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I can confirm to the Deputy, that my Department recently approved additional accommodation for the school in question, under my Department's Additional School Accommodation Scheme (ASA). The school authorities have been notified directly of this approval.

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 Allocations 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.

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 Allocations 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.

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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428. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if her Department's forward planning unit has identified additional accommodation requirements in County Mayo; the likely trends or areas of increased demand in the county; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16301/22]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I wish to advise the Deputy, that my Department is aware of increasing local pressures and demand for additional school places in a number of school planning areas, including within Mayo.

However, it is important to note that where enrolment pressures arise, it may not be as a result of lack of accommodation but may be driven by the following factors:

Duplication of applications – pupils have applied for a place to a number of schools in the area;

School of choice – pupils can’t get a place in their preferred school while there are places in other schools in the town/area;

Some towns/areas have single sex schools and while places are available in the school they are not available to all pupils; and

External draw – pupils coming from outside the local area.

My Department is working to establish the true extent of any capacity issues through ongoing discussions with the relevant school authorities. In that context, similar to the process adopted in advance of the current academic year, my Department is engaging with patron bodies, including those of schools in Mayo, to identify particular capacity requirements for the forthcoming year(s) which may necessitate further action to that already in train.

Under Project Ireland 2040, my Department continues to make progress to increase the infrastructural capacity in the schools sector, in order to meet demographic and other demands. It is expected that the enrolment pressures in this, and other areas will reduce in the short-term as such planned additional capacity comes on stream and as demographic demand moves past its peak.

The Capital Programme details the school projects that are being progressed under Project Ireland 2040. The current status of large-scale projects being delivered under Project Ireland 2040, including projects in the school planning areas in question, 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.

The Capital Programme also provides for devolved funding for additional classrooms, including accommodation for pupils with special educational needs, if required, for schools where an additional enrolment need has been identified or where an additional teacher has been appointed. Details of schools listed on this programme (the Additional Accommodation Scheme) can be found on my Department's website at www.gov.ie and this information is also updated regularly.