Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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294. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when a service will resume for a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41225/24]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Department is required to manage the overall school building programme so that it can target and prioritise areas that are under greatest pressure for additional school places. This reflects the Department’s fundamental objective of ensuring the availability of a school place for every child.

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 educational needs. The overall position with regard to potential modernisation and replacement of existing school infrastructure will be kept under review.

The Department of Education provides funding for furniture and equipment (F&E) for schools in various ways, depending on the appropriate delivery mechanism. The school to which the deputy refers relates to replacement of specialist equipment. The Department is currently reviewing this process and the delivery mechanism associated with such in order to provide a more streamlined process that facilitates digital applications. While this process in ongoing it is not possible to progress applications, however if a school has an emergency need for certain pieces of specialist equipment the school can contact the Department's furniture and equipment section in the interim.