Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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196. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the position of a school (details supplied) will be considered having regard to the fact the school, when requested, opened a special ASD class four years ago on the specific understanding that additional accommodation would be provided; the reason the proposed extension has not yet been approved to go to construction; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53342/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The school to which the Deputy refers was approved to enter the department’s pipeline for a project under the Additional School Accommodation (ASA) Scheme. The project will provide one special education classroom and repurposing works to create one special education classroom. This project is devolved to the school authority for delivery.

A Stage 2b (post planning) report was received in Q2 2025. This is currently being reviewed from both a technical and cost perspective in accordance with the requirements of the Public Spending Code. All projects, including this one, undergo the necessary due diligence outlined in the public Infrastructure Guidelines

Furthermore, as part of the National Development Plan (NDP) allocation my department will place a strong emphasis on provision for children with special educational needs, with a particular focus on meeting annual school place needs. In relation to project rollout for Additional School Accommodation scheme projects, the approach will be to continue to maximise the capacity of the existing school estate as much as possible in the first instance and provide necessary additional capacity through targeted and prioritised project rollout over the course of 2026 to 2030 period to meet the most urgent and prioritised needs.

My department is now preparing an NDP implementation plan which is due for publication later in the Autumn. This plan will optimise outputs from the NDP allocations, with a strong focus on maximising existing school capacity, progressing priority projects where local capacity across schools in the area is insufficient, and ensuring delivery that is affordable, offers value for money, and meets functional needs.

The NDP implementation plan will be considered as part of the ongoing review of this school building project. Once the NDP implementation plan is finalised my Department will be in a position to inform the school of the outcome regarding the progression of this project.