Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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299.To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the building projects under consideration for a school (details supplied); and when they might be in a position to proceed to construction. [25027/24]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I can confirm to the Deputy, that the school in question was granted initial approval for modular accommodation project under my Department's Additional School Accommodation (ASA) scheme.

The Department has a significant modular accommodation programme in place to assist schools in the provision of additional capacity, including in respect of facilitating the establishment of special classes.

This programme involves the use of Project Management supports which is designed to enable the accommodation to be provided as quickly as possible and help ease the administrative workload for school authorities in relation to the management and delivery of projects.

The use of the Department’s Modular Accommodation Framework also assists in ensuring lead in periods for procurement of modular accommodation are minimised to the greatest extent possible.

I can confirm that the school in question was assigned a Project Manager under this programme and the project has progressed to viability report stage. The Viability Report has been received from the Project Managers and has been reviewed by the department's Technical team.

The consideration of the accommodation requirements for this school forms part of the Planning and Building Unit’s overall assessment of its work programme and priorities in the context of available capital funding. It is not, therefore, possible to give an indication at this point in time of the timeframe for the provision of additional accommodation at the school.

I can only seek to assure you that we will advance this matter as quickly as possible.

Department officials also continue to engage with the school and its patron with respect to its long-term accommodation needs, in the context of particular technical constraints with the school site.