Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 April 2024
331. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Education the reason for the continued delay in providing a promised SEN provision for a school (details supplied), despite the school being approved under her Department's additional school accommodation scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18085/24]
View answerThe school to which the Deputy refers was approved to enter the Department’s school accommodation pipeline of projects to provide a 3 Classroom SEN Base, 2 SET Rooms and 3 General Classrooms under the Additional School Accommodation (ASA) scheme. This project is devolved for delivery to Donegal ETB.
My Department has approved the project to go to the tender. The tender report was received by my Department in Quarter 4 2023 and is now under review by my Department in line with the requirements of the public Infrastructure Guidelines. Once this review has taken place, the ETB will be advised accordingly.
It is planned that close to 90 school building projects currently at tender stage will be authorised to proceed to construction over the course of 2024 and early 2025. These projects will provide new and modernised facilities to help schools cater for growing populations in their areas and include 138 classrooms for children with special education needs, which is a key priority for Government.
In total, around €800 million will be invested in these projects under the department’s Large Scale Capital Programme and Additional Accommodation Scheme for essential classroom accommodation.
This is a record level of investment in school buildings. It will expand the number of school places, significantly increase provision for special education and upgrade and modernise our school infrastructure. The impact of this will be felt in communities right around the country.
