Jen Cummins (Dublin South Central, Social Democrats)
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506. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason a school (details supplied) has been instructed not to accept any more junior infants from the local area. [29081/25]

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 funding from the school in question. This application has been assessed under the department's Additional School Accommodation (ASA) Scheme.

The purpose of the 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 or by available accommodation at other schools in the area.

Since 2020, my department has invested over €6 billion in our schools throughout the country under the National Development Plan (NDP), involving the completion of over 1,375 school building projects. Government support for this investment, including by way of supplementary capital funding, has delivered real benefits for school communities. A recent Government decision has approved €210m supplementary capital funding for my department to support the provision of special education accommodation and meet school place needs. This brings the total capital allocation for 2025 for my department to €1.6bn.

As part of the NDP Review process, all departments, including my department, are currently engaging with the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform with respect to NDP allocations for the period 2026-2030. It is expected that there will be clarity on these allocations over the course of the summer period, and this will allow my department to plan its capital investment programme for the 2026 to 2030 period in line with prioritised needs and reflecting, as appropriate, wider Government priorities. Maximising existing capacity in schools to meet needs is very important. The progression of prioritised individual projects to meet the most urgent needs in the 2026 to 2030 period that cannot be met through existing capacity across schools in the local area will be considered on a rolling basis from Autumn onwards after the NDP allocations are finalised.

I am pleased to advise the Deputy that the assessment of the school's ASA application is now complete. My officials have engaged with the school and have provisionally approved temporary local accommodation to facilitate the intake of a second junior infants’ class at the school. This engagement will continue over the coming weeks with a view to delivering permanent accommodation solutions to the school and its community.