Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 January 2026
586. Deputy Eamon Scanlon asked the Minister for Education and Youth to provide an update regarding the allocation of two special ASD classes in a school (details supplied) which were sanctioned in October 2023 by the NCSE; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4480/26]
View answerI can confirm that my department has an application on hand for capital funding from the school in question for 1 Special Education Class.
Since 2020, my department has invested over €6 billion in our schools throughout the country under the National Development Plan, involving the completion of almost 1,400 school building projects. In addition, repurposing and optimisation of existing accommodation capacity across the school estate has been a key enabler of timely, local provision of special class capacity in a way that supports best practice in inclusion and integration. Circa 80% of new special classes in 2025/26 are being facilitated in repurposed classroom accommodation.
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 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 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.
The school in question is being considered in this context and when further updates are available my officials will contact the school authorities directly. I can assure the Deputy that my department is very cognisant of the requirement around the delivery of accommodation for the school in question and is working to advance matters as quickly as possible.
