Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

108. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she can provide an update on a school (details supplied) regarding its accommodation needs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30144/24]

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

I can confirm to the Deputy that my department received an application under the Additional Schools' Accommodation (ASA) Scheme in 2021 from the school in question. The application was for funding for the provision of three special education needs classrooms on foot of the sanction of three ASD special classes by the NCSE in February 2021. Funding was approved for prefab replacement in 2022 for an 80m2 prefab.

As the Deputy may be aware the department’s Technical team carried out an in-depth review of the school site in 2021. The review confirmed that the school and the site are at maximum capacity and that it would not be possible to provide the required accommodation on site unless vast amounts of existing single storey accommodation was to be demolished and replaced with two storey accommodation. At that time, considering all the relevant impediments to deliver the brief of accommodation and the site constraints, the Department was not in a position to provide funding for the significant demolition of the school building. In light of this, officials in my department contacted the NCSE to advise them of same and to establish the special classes in other schools in the area.

Over the last two years, the department and the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) have worked closely on a more streamlined and joined up planning process which has ensured a targeted approach to meet demand for special education placements ahead of each new school year. The Department continues to work with the NCSE in relation to the short-term requirements for special class and special school places and also the more strategic and longer-term requirements.

In planning and providing for additional school accommodation, the Department must also have regard to construction inflation pressures and competing demands on suppliers of modular accommodation and project management services. In response to these challenges both in terms of demand for accommodation and costs, the Department must prioritise spending and seek to achieve value for money in line with the public spending code/NDP framework. 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. In relation to the provision of primary special classes, the shared preference of both the Department and the NCSE is to use and reconfigure existing school accommodation to provide special classes.

In County Cork alone, from 2020 to end of June 2024, the Department has invested in the region of €606.32m in school infrastructure and completed 128 school building projects. A further 30 projects are at construction stage and 7 at tender stage.

I can advise the Deputy that in January of this year, the NCSE reconfirmed the sanction of 3 special education needs classes at the school in question. The Board of Management subsequently submitted an engineer’s condition report to the department in support of their proposal to knock and rebuild a portion of the school building. In view of the reconfirmed sanction by the NCSE, the cost of the prefab for special education tuition and the engineer's condition report my department agreed to review the contents of the report. This review is ongoing. I can confirm to the Deputy that in tandem with this review officials from my department have met with the Patron of the school in question with a view to resolving the accommodation needs of special class pupils at the school and in the general area. Officials in my department have also been engaging with the school directly.