Carol Nolan (Offaly, Independent)
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240. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to address serious concerns around delays to a planning application by a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [56397/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The school referred to by the deputy was approved to enter the Department’s pipeline of school buildings under the Additional School Accommodation Scheme for a project providing 1 SET Room (prefab replacement), 1 SEN classroom and 1 Central Activities Space. The project is devolved to the school authority for delivery.

My Department has engaged actively with the school regarding its building project. The Stage 2b (post-planning) report has been submitted and is currently under review from both technical and cost perspectives, in line with the Public Spending Code. This is a key milestone before the project can progress further. All projects, including this one, are subjected to the required due diligence as specified in the Department's infrastructure guidelines. Managing timing, scope, and cost is crucial to staying within budgetary limits for the overall program.

With regard to the condition of the existing prefab, particularly its use for a special class, if there are immediate health and safety risks, the school may apply for Emergency Works funding. The main purpose of the Emergency Works Scheme is to provide for unforeseen emergencies that impact on school buildings. An emergency is a situation which poses an immediate risk to health, life, property or the environment, which is sudden, unforeseen and requires immediate action and, in the case of a school, if not corrected would prevent the school or part thereof from opening. The scheme does so by ensuring the availability of funding for urgent works to those schools that are in need of resources as a result of an emergency situation. The scheme also provides funding to facilitate inclusion and access for special needs pupils on receipt of an enrolment application from such a pupil and/or for staff members. Applications must meet the criteria outlined in Circular 0068/2020 and include all relevant supporting documentation.

Alternatively, the school may apply to the Additional Accommodation Needs unit for a modular unit. However, it must be noted that any modular provided may affect the scope of the school’s existing ASA brief.

Since 2020, the Department of Education and Youth has invested over €6 billion in our schools throughout the country under the National Development Plan, involving the completion of over 1,400 school building projects. Government support for this investment, including by way of supplementary capital funding, has delivered real benefits for school communities. Supplementary capital funding of €210 million approved by Government has brought the total capital allocation for 2025 for my department to €1.6 billion.

In July, the Government announced a capital allocation of €7.55 billion for the Department of Education and Youth for the period 2026-2030 under the National Development Plan. As part of this NDP allocation the 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 Large-Scale projects and 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. This will be the context for assessing all project rollout for the 2026 to 2030 period including in relation to this school.

We will continue to support the school and will provide updates as the review advances.