Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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812. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the eligibility criteria and process for a school to utilise the additional school accommodation scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18942/25]

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 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.

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 and retained by the school, or a new SEN class has been sanctioned by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE).

The Deputy will be aware that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children with special educational needs nationwide. The department and the NCSE have worked closely on a more streamlined and joined up planning process which has ensured a targeted approach to meet demand for special education placements ahead of each new school year. The Department continues to work with the NCSE in relation to the short-term requirements for special class and special school places and the more strategic and longer-term requirements.

Since 2020, my department has invested over €5.9 billion in our schools throughout the country, involving the completion of over 1,350 school building projects.? Between projects currently under construction and projects moving to construction in the coming months, investments by the Department of Education are adding over 610,000 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.?

The Programme for Government recognises the importance of strong capital investment in the school building programme and supporting this with enhanced allocations through the NDP process.??

It is open to schools to apply for the ASA scheme if they believe they need additional accommodation to cater for their cohort of teachers and pupils. Applications will be assessed by my officials, taking account of the school's current accommodation and capacity and demographic pressures in the School Planning Area. A decision will issue to the school authorities directly, upon completion of the assessment process.

Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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813. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the timeline in which a school can expect to receive approval to avail of the additional school accommodation scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18943/25]

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 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.

The consideration of any applications on hand for the ASA scheme form part of the Planning and Building Unit's overall assessment of its work programme and priorities in the context of available capital funding. It is not therefore possible to give an indication of the timeframe for approval of additional accommodation. I can only seek to ensure you that my officials process the applications as quickly as possible and that the department is conscious that where additional school places and accommodation are required, a significant lead in time is required for a variety of reasons.