Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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121. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the timeline for the additional school accommodation section to work towards when processing invoices from schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16805/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The purpose of the Additional School Accommodation (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 at other schools in the area.

School building projects delivered under my Department’s Additional Accommodation Scheme operate on a devolved basis. Individual school authorities are typically the client on these projects and they have the responsibility for making payments to Design Teams and contractors in accordance with the timelines set out in the public services and works contracts. My Department provides advance funding to school authorities to enable them to make payments in a timely manner. If the Deputy has a specific query in this regard, I am happy to have it checked out by my Department.

The ASA scheme delivers a significant number of projects annually, providing essential infrastructure such as new classrooms, special educational facilities and other critical school accommodations to meet growing demographic demand.

Since 2020, my department has invested over €5.8 billion in our schools throughout the country, involving the completion of over 950 ASA school building projects. Currently, there are over 1,050 live ASA school projects, with construction underway across circa 180 projects. From 2020 to 2024, my department has processed payments in excess of €700 million in relation to the Additional School Accommodation scheme.