Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

698. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if a school (details supplied) will still receive funding if the school proceeds with installing modular buildings for a special class. [11931/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I can confirm to the Deputy, that the school in question was approved capital funding under my Department's Additional School Accommodation (ASA) scheme, for a traditional build project of 2 Special education classrooms, 1 Universal Access Toilet and 1 prefabricated mainstream classroom for interim accommodation.

In 2024, my Department sought to provide modular accommodation instead of the prefabricated accommodation for this school. The accommodation was to be delivered via the Department's Project Manager framework (PM). This was agreeable to the school authorities. However, following a site visit from the Project Managers, the school advised they did not wish to progress with the modular accommodation at that time. The school chose to accommodate the children within their school building until the traditional build was delivered. The school subsequently withdrew the modular accommodation project.

The Deputy will be aware that there is a demand for special education places throughout the country, in particular in the school planning area in question.

It is proposed that a site visit will take place to the school in question to determine next steps in terms of overall accommodation for the school and progressing additional accommodation to be delivered to the school.