Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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429. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to Parliamentary Question No. 317 of 12 December 2023, to provide an update on the request to consider the acquisition of additional land at a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44630/24]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I can advise the Deputy that a project was approved in 2023 under the Additional Schools Accommodation (ASA) Scheme for the school in question. This project is currently at stage 4 and will deliver an additional mainstream classroom and two special education tuition rooms in modular accommodation to the school.

The purpose of the ASA scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream classroom and Special Education Needs (SEN) accommodation 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 a new SEN class has been sanctioned by the NCSE, and all available alternative accommodation within the school is already being used for classroom purposes.

I can confirm to the Deputy that a request was received by my department in December 2023 to consider funding in relation to the associated costs of a land exchange at the school in question. Officials from my department made contact with the patron’s representative and the chairperson of the Board of Management and advised that the department was not in a position to fund such costs.

I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department does not provide funding for site extensions where the original site is not in state ownership. In these cases it is a matter for the Board of Management or the Patron to purchase any site extension required or to cover any costs related thereto.