I thank Deputy Crowe very much for the question on Clonlara. I can confirm to him that the Department is in receipt of an application for funding for major capital works from the school in question. The application has been assessed under the Department's additional school accommodation, ASA, scheme. For background, since 2020, the Department has invested more than €5.7 billion in schools throughout the country, involving the completion of more than 1,150 school building projects, with construction currently under way on approximately 300 other projects, which includes 40 new school buildings, some of which are being delivered in phases. The 300 projects currently at construction involve a total State investment of more than €1.3 billion. Between projects currently under construction and projects moving to construction in this latest phase, investments by the Department of Education are adding more than 550,000 sq. m of new and modernised capacity to the school estate. This is a record level of investment in school buildings and is testament to the priority the Government has and is placing on educational investment. It will expand the number of school places, significantly increase provision for special education, and upgrade and modernise school infrastructure. The impact of this will be felt in communities the length and breadth of the country. Following a site visit by the Department of Education, I am pleased to advise the Deputy that the accommodation brief for a significant extension at the school has been approved by the Department. The accommodation brief will include replacing some existing accommodation to provide new modern facilities and increased capacity for the school. The school authority notified my Department last week that it welcomes and accepts this project brief. The next steps will involve finalising the formal project brief, which will then enable the school authority to be approved to commence the procurement process for the design team.

Sentiment score: 0.23

There is no doubt that when lived experiences of being and working in the classrooms is brought to the floor of the Chamber, it brings the matter very much to life in the political forum. Clonlara school applied for major capital works. An application is assessed following the site visit by the Department’s technical team. A brief of accommodation was issued to the board of management. This brief included the proposal for the demolition of the 1968 school building, which was poorly insulated and lacks direct internal connections to the old facilities, and for removing all prefabs currently on site once the additional accommodation is delivered. The proposed brief of additional accommodation consists of seven mainstream classrooms, three special education tuition rooms and two education classes. Currently, no SEN class is open. The proposed brief was issued by the Department and the board of management very recently accepted this proposed brief of accommodation. The next steps will involve finalising the formal project brief, which will allow the school authority to be approved to commence the procurement process for the design team.

Sentiment score: 0.06

I thank the Deputy. I accept the point. In the departmental documents, it is clearly stated there is no direct internal connection to other facilities. The Department clearly understands the challenges in Clonlara. What we have to do now is ensure the project proceeds through the various stages so the building can be got up and running. I commit to working with the Deputy to ensure this happens in a timely fashion.

Sentiment score: 0.38