Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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970. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of projects for school extensions which will be used to accommodate ASD special classes that are ongoing; the number that are due to be completed and opened by August and September 2022; the number of these projects that are facing difficulties in relation to budget concerns, contractors, the sourcing of building supplies and planning concerns; and the number that face risks to the projected timelines of these projects. [29386/22]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The delivery of Special Education Needs (SEN) provision is a key priority under the NDP. My Department has delivered permanent accommodation for 292 special classes and additional capacity for 122 classrooms in 22 special schools during NDP period 2018 to 2021. A further 700 school building projects currently progressing under the NDP which will deliver over 1,300 new SEN classrooms and 200 replacement SEN classrooms catering for approximately 7,800 SEN pupils across primary and post primary; almost 100 of these projects are currently on site which will ultimately deliver classroom spaces for almost 1,000 additional SEN pupils. Taken together, this will enable new additional or modernised accommodation at over 50% of our special schools; and 60% of our post-primary schools either have an existing special class or have a project on the School Building Programme which will provide SEN accommodation;

The NCSE is projecting circa 300 extra classes needed for the 2022/2023 school year and my Department facilitates accommodation solutions where necessary to support the provision of these extra classes. There are Strategic initiatives in place which support capacity building for SEN provision including the use of a Modular Accommodation Framework and also the expansion of existing planning exemptions for provision of additional accommodation at existing school sites.

My Department is aware of the challenges presented by Covid-19, the humanitarian crisis and the challenging market conditions currently underway, and is working proactively to ensure that all school building contracts are delivered as expeditiously as possible, while working within the parameters set by the Office of Government Procurement and principles of public procurement set out at both national and EU level.

With regard to inflation, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform recently (22nd May 2022) published further measures to address the impact that exceptional inflation in construction materials and energy is having on public works contracts. It is likely that following consideration of this guidance, claims for ex-gratia payments will be made by Contractors in line with the published guidance.