Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 12 February 2026
169. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Education and Youth when additional school accommodation will be supplied to primary schools in County Louth (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9921/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraI can confirm to the Deputy that applications under the department’s Additional Schools Accommodation (ASA) Scheme have been received from both schools.
The first school applied for additional accommodation in 2022 and on foot of that application had modular accommodation comprising two Special Education (SEN) classrooms, and one Special Education Tuition (SET) room delivered in May 2023.
The second school applied for additional accommodation in June 2025 and that application is currently under assessment.
Given the general downward direction of overall enrolments in the areas in which both schools are located the department's focus for the assessment of such additional accommodation applications will be as follows:
• Analyse the extent to which enrolments at this school and neighbouring schools are serving the local area in the first instance. This will identify if some of the pressures on local capacity are arising from the enrolment of pupils from outside the local area where there may be other school provision opportunities available to them.
• In assessing accommodation capacity at this school and neighbouring schools, an assessment will need to be made on how best to utilise existing capacity in the context of both mainstream and SEN requirements in the local area.
The above sets the parameters for the department’s decision-making processes and this will, where necessary, involve engagement with school patrons and relevant individual schools as appropriate.
My department will continue to build on the progress made over recent years with the continued roll-out of projects on a prioritised basis to meet the most urgent needs in terms of provision of additional capacity and modernisation of existing facilities.
The accommodation needs at the schools in question will be considered in the above context and a decision will issue to the schools authorities directly.
