Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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436. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide an update on the timeline for the delivery of the modular building required for the ASD special class at a school (details supplied); if she is aware that the school has had to defer admissions for September 2025 due to the lack of suitable infrastructure, despite engaging with the NCSE and her Department on this matter; and the immediate steps her Department will take to address this urgent issue to ensure the health and safety of the children currently enrolled and those awaiting enrolment. [2587/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I can confirm to the Deputy, that my Department is in receipt of an application for capital funding, under the Additional School Accommodation (ASA) scheme, from the school in question for 1 x Mainstream classroom modular and the school authority has subsequently requested that this modular be changed to provide 1 x Special education needs classroom.

The purpose of my Department’s Additional School 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.

The Department’s Modular Accommodation Programme is an important mechanism for facilitating accelerated delivery of necessary additional capacity – including in relation to special classes. However, as part of maximising existing capacity and managing within budgetary parameters this is targeted at schools where there is no existing capacity in the general area to facilitate the establishment of urgently required special classes.

A key focus of the Department is the utilisation of existing accommodation at schools to provide facilities for special classes. This approach supports accelerated delivery of the accommodation and provision which is well integrated within the mainstream school accommodation. It is consistent with the Department’s commitment to supporting the educational needs of children who require specialist placements while at the same time meeting the requirements of the Government’s Infrastructure Guidelines.

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 planning for school place requirements and ensuring best use of limited resources, it is very important that capacity in existing schools and across a town or area is maximised to the greatest extent possible. This analysis is done as part of the Department’s assessment of applications for additional accommodation from individual schools.

In relation to special classes that require modular accommodation, it should be noted that there can be a lead in periods to provide same – depending on scale and complexity of the project. The Department’s approach is to advise schools that it is prudent to have contingency plans in place for modular accommodation projects that are approved by the Department. This contingency planning is supported by training, guidance and support from the NCSE in relation to the establishment of the special class.

The NCSE regional team have engaged with the school in question and have confirmed that a class is not required at the school for 2025/26.

Officials in my Department will be in contact with the school the school authority directly regarding the ASA application.