School Accommodation

Thursday, 19 February 2026

Questions (371)

Niamh Smyth

Question:

371. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Education and Youth the status of an application (details supplied) for required accommodation; if the application has been reviewed by her Department; the current status of same; the timeline for a decision in this case; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13905/26]

View answer

Written answers

Minister for Education and Youth

I can confirm to the Deputy, that my department is in receipt of an application for capital funding, under the Additional School Accommodation (ASA), from the school in question.

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 along with over 4,000 small-scale improvement works to meet priority maintenance needs and advance energy efficiency and climate goal.

Following a total capital allocation of €1.6 billion for 2025, the Government announced a further 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. The approach will be to continue to maximise the capacity of the existing school estate. Re-purposing 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. To support the delivery of special classes in good time, a new streamlined approach to funding was made available to re-purpose existing accommodation for SEN in 2025. Further information on SEN re-purposing supports can be accessed on www.gov.ie.

The school’s application for additional accommodation is currently being considered in this context, and once a decision has been made the school authorities will be contacted.