Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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172. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if a decision on an application by a school (details supplied) will be expedited; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26820/24]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I wish to confirm that my Department received an application from the school authority in question for the use of their school in connection with a pre-school service.

As the Deputy may be aware schools themselves are free to decide if they wish to make their facilities available for the running of early learning and care and/or school-age childcare services, and my Department understands that some schools do so. Any decision to make school facilities available lies with the relevant Trustees/ Property owners having regard to the requirements of the school, staff and students.

In 2017 guidelines, which were developed in consultation with school authorities, on the use of school buildings outside of school hours were published (Guidelines on the use of School buildings outside of School Hours) and a copy of these Guidelines is available on my Department's website. These Guidelines include information which school authorities should consider in the event that they receive an application for the use of their school in connection with a pre-school. Where that proposed use may take place within school hours consideration has to be given to the impact on the capacity of the school to meet its requirements, including special education provision.

The priority use for school accommodation is, necessarily, the provision of mainstream primary and post primary school places, as well as provision for children with special educational needs. Therefore, where a school is letting of part of its property as an early learning and care setting during school hours, they must first have the prior approval of the Minister. In addition, where schools enter an agreement for the use of their facilities it should include a condition that the agreement may be terminated should the facility be required for education provision.

The Board of Management is responsible for the direct governance of a school and for the use of school resources and facilities subject to the approval of the Trustee/Patron. The onus is on the Board of Management and the Patron to ensure that there is sufficient accommodation to meet the school’s long-term projected enrolment and any development which may arise in the area. In that regard, where additional accommodation is required at the school in the future, any accommodation used for purposes other than primary school provision must revert to mainstream use as soon as the need arises. The use of classrooms for teaching and learning is the priority for the school.

Officials from my Department have been in contact with the school in question and the school have been notified of the decision.

Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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173. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will arrange for personnel from the primary building unit of her Department to visit, as soon as possible, a school (details supplied) to assess the school's current sub-standard accommodation and to provide guidance on the school's application for a building extension; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26836/24]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I can confirm to the Deputy that my department has recently received of an application for capital funding under the Additional Schools' Accommodation scheme from the school in question.

The purpose of my department’s Additional Schools' 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 National Council for Special Education (NCSE), and all available alternative accommodation within the school is already being used for classroom purposes. The capacity at other schools in the area is also considered as part of the assessment of any accommodation needs.

In general, demographics have been falling at primary level and are due to continue to decrease.

Therefore the Department considers it prudent to maximise the use of existing spare accommodation capacity at primary level in the first instance, before considering any applications for further accommodation needs. This is in line with public spending requirements.

The Department’s Planning and Building Unit is therefore carefully analysing the medium to longer-term requirements for additional accommodation taking account of enrolment projections and the need to make optimum use of existing capacity in schools in the area.

Our main focus is on the most critical needs for the next school year. In the context of making most effective use of our capital allocation, and mindful of climate action goals, we are working to make sure that all school accommodation capacity is being maximised. We are looking at how each individual school’s accommodation can be best utilised and at capacity across schools in each school planning area.

The application for this school is being considered in this context and we are working to get a decision communicated to the school as soon as possible.