Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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291. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding an application for an additional post-primary school in County Laois (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36286/24]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I can confirm to the Deputy, that the school in question had submitted an application for capital funding, under my Department's Additional School Accommodation Scheme.

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

In the context of making most effective use of our capital allocation, and mindful of climate action goals, Department officials are working to make sure that all school accommodation capacity is being maximised.

The consideration of the accommodation requirements for the school in question forms part of the Planning and Building Unit’s overall assessment of it's work programme and priorities in the context of available capital funding.

Since 2020, my department has invested in the region of €4.9 billion in our schools throughout the country, involving the completion of over 900 school building projects and with construction currently underway at approximately 300 other projects, which includes 30 new school buildings.

School building projects at construction involve an overall State investment of over €1.2 billion. We also have a large modular accommodation programme delivering urgently needed school places. This is a record level of investment in our schools and highlights the Government’s very strong track record of delivery in providing additional capacity and modern facilities for our school communities.

The 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, the Department is working to ensure that projects in the pipeline for planning and delivery are focused on maximising their alignment with overall capacity requirements.

The main focus of the Department’s capital funding over the last decade and for the coming period is on provision of critical additional capacity to cater for increasing demographics and children with special education needs.

The Department is required to manage the overall school building programme so that we target and prioritise areas that are under greatest pressure for additional school places. This reflects our fundamental objective of ensuring the availability of a school place for every child.

The application from the school in question is currently being considered by my officials. Once the assessment process has been finalised the school authority will be notified of the decision directly.