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

I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department has no current record of receiving an application for additional accommodation from the school in question.

The purpose of my Department’s Additional School Accommodation (or ASA) scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream classroom accommodation and accommodation for pupils with special education needs is available to cater for pupils enrolled each year, where the need cannot be met by the school’s existing accommodation or at other schools in the area.

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 the requirement for a new class for pupils with special education needs has been identified by the NCSE, and all available alternative accommodation within the school is already being used for classroom purposes.

The Department works very closely with the NCSE in relation to forward planning for increased special education provision in the form of additional special classes and special school places.

This includes working to ensure that all appropriate available capacity is maximised in the first instance, before considering any applications for further accommodation needs.

The school in question should engage with the NCSE regarding the requirement for additional classes, if it has not done so already. Should there be a requirement for additional classes at the school, beyond what can be facilitated within existing accommodation, it is open to the school authority to make an application for additional accommodation through the 'Additional School Accommodation scheme (ASA)' which is available at www.education.ie.