Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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241. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when a project will proceed to the next stage (details supplied) in view of the urgency of providing additional permanent accommodation at this school; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10702/23]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I can confirm to the Deputy, that my Department is in receipt of an application from the school in question, for funding under the Department's Additional School Accommodation scheme (ASA).

My Department has a strong track record of delivery of school building projects and this was achieved again in 2022 notwithstanding the wider construction sector environment of high inflation, labour shortages and supply chain issues.

There were circa. 180 school building projects delivered during 2022 and a further 273 school building projects remained under construction at the start of 2023 - most of which will be completed this year.

I am very appreciative of the strong support provided by Government for our education budget.  As part of the supplementary budget, €300m additional capital funding was provided in 2022. This helped to alleviate capital funding pressures that arose in 2022 which was reflective of the strong delivery by the Department of school building projects – particularly to support mainstream provision and special education needs provision.  My Department’s overall capital outturn for 2022 was €1.12 billion.

My Department's Planning and Building Unit is currently assessing its work programme and priorities for 2023 in the context of its available funding.  My Department's published NDP allocation for 2023 is €0.86 billion.  High construction inflation remains a continuing feature of the construction sector for 2023.  As part of its planning ahead for 2023, my Department is engaging with the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform in relation to capital funding pressures in order to continue to be able to adequately support the operation of the school system with rollout of school building projects to construction in 2023. 

Key priorities for my Department's work programme include continuing strong delivery to support the operation of the school system with particular regard to planning ahead for the 2023/24 school year and beyond and also with particular regard to supporting special needs provision.  The school to which the Deputy refers is among the many school accommodation needs across the country being considered as part of this process.

My Department’s overall approach is to ensure that available capacity is maximised to the greatest extent possible as part of its consideration of applications for additional accommodation.  Additionally, my Department is working to ensure that projects in the pipeline for planning and delivery are focused on maximising their alignment with overall capacity requirements.  Engagement with relevant patrons will be important in this regard. The medium to longer term trajectory on overall enrolments is also particularly relevant given that at national level, enrolments at primary are projected to reduce by circa. 100,000 over the next decade notwithstanding that there can be regional and local variations to this trajectory.   

My Department will be in further contact with the school authorities in due course.