Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 2 December 2025
243. Deputy Ryan O'Meara asked the Minister for Education and Youth the status of an application by a school (details supplied) for additional accommodation; the status of temporary accommodation for the school; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [67541/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraI can confirm to the Deputy, that the school in question has submitted an application for capital funding, under my department's Additional School Accommodation Scheme (ASA).
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 roll-out 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 roll-out over the course of 2026 to 2030 period to meet the most urgent and prioritised needs. It is planned that circa 80 school building projects will progress to construction across 2026 and 2027 as part of a 2-year rolling programme.
All Government departments are expected to publish their sectoral NDP Implementation Plans shortly. My department’s 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.
I can confirm to the Deputy that the school's patron, Tipperary Education and Training Board (TETB), agreed a brief in September this year for modular accommodation comprising 3 Mainstream classrooms and ancillary accommodation, and repurposing of existing accommodation to provide 2 Special Education Tuition rooms. It subsequently became apparent that the brief of accommodation could not be delivered on the school site. This was communicated to the patron body in mid-November and on-going contact has been maintained since on next steps. Due to the restricted nature of the school site temporary accommodation is not recommended and this has been communicated to the patron.
The progression of this project will ultimately be considered in the context of the NDP Implementation plan as set out above.
