Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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452. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will urgently intervene in a case of subject-specific classroom accommodation for a school in County Clare (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8148/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I can confirm to the Deputy that the department is in receipt of an application under the Department's Additional School Accommodation (ASA) Scheme for funding for additional accommodation from the school in question

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 by available accommodation in other schools in the area.

The provision of education for children with special needs is an ongoing priority for government. The numbers of special classes, special education teachers and special needs assistants (SNAs) are at unprecedented levels.

In 2025, the department will spend over €2.9 billion on special education. Over a quarter of the entire education budget has been dedicated to special education in recent years.

The main supports this funding provides for are new special places, special education teachers and SNA posts.

Over 3,330 special classes have been sanctioned by the NCSE. 408 of these are new for the current school year – 289 at primary and 119 at post-primary level. Of the 124 special schools nationwide, four special schools are new for this school year and further capacity has been expanded in eleven others. Five more have been established for the 2025/26 school year in counties Cork, Dublin (2), Monaghan and Tipperary. This will bring to 16 the number of new special schools opened in recent years.

In addition, Budget 2025 provides for a dedicated special education innovation fund in recognition of the need to continually evolve and examine best practice to support children with special educational needs has received funding. Funding has also been secured for targeted measures to help children with special educational needs with planning and transitioning to and from the various level of our education system. In addition, it has also been provided for supporting teachers and SNAs in their enhanced training requirements.

The largest investment in the Summer Programme has also been secured. This €62 million investment will allow the department to continue to prioritise the most vulnerable children in our society, those with the most complex special educational needs and those from disadvantaged backgrounds, to access the additional support that they need during the summer.

The department previously announced that close to 90 projects, including 28 new school buildings, would be authorised to proceed from tender stage to construction over the course of 2024 and early 2025. In total, around €800 million will be invested in these projects under the department’s Large Scale Capital Programme and Additional Accommodation Scheme for essential classroom accommodation.

Between projects currently under construction and projects moving to construction in this latest phase, investments by the Department of Education are adding over 550,000 square metres of new and modernised capacity to our school estate.?

This is a record level of investment in school buildings. It will expand the number of school places, significantly increase provision for special education and upgrade and modernise our school infrastructure.? The impact of this will be felt in communities right around the country.

In County Clare alone, in the period 2020 – 2024, the department has invested €117.74 million on projects in construction, projects in the pipeline and on completions. There were 22 projects completed in Clare in the period 2020 to 2024 and there are currently 8 projects in construction including 2 modular projects.

I am pleased to advise the Deputy that a proposed brief has issued to the school authority in late January for agreement by its Board of Management. A response from the board is awaited in order to progress the project. Officials in my Department remain available to the school should the school have any further queries.