QUESTION
To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the location of the permanent site for a school (details supplied); if the acquisition of the site has been completed; the number of classrooms proposed for the school; and if he will make a statement on the matter. (Details Supplied) Malahide and Portmarnock educate together national school in Broomfield, Malahide REPLY As the Deputy is aware, with the assistance of officials in Fingal County Council, agreement in principle has been reached with the landowner in respect to the acquisition of a permanent site at Broomfield, Malahide to accommodate the school to which he refers. A project to deliver a 16-classroom school plus 2-classroom SEN base at this location is included on my Department's capital programme. The project to deliver the permanent accommodation for this school at this location is on my Department's Design and Build Programme and is currently at architectural planning stage. In the interim my officials continue to work to complete the transfer of the site into my ownership QUESTION
To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the provision of a new school building project for a school (details supplied); if the acquisition of a new site for the school has been completed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. (Details Supplied) St. Joseph's Secondary School, Rush, Co Dublin REPLY As the Deputy is aware the building project for the school in question is included on my Department's capital programme. Officials in my Department have contacted officials in Fingal County Council for assistance under the Memorandum of Understanding in relation to the identification and acquisition of a suitable site. Negotiations with relevant landowners in respect of the potential acquisition of the zoned post primary school site at that location is currently underway. Officials in both my Department and the Council are working to progress matters as quickly as possible, in cognisance of the school’s current accommodation constraints . It is difficult to indicate a timeline for the completion of the acquisition of a site for the school in question as it is dependent on the outcome of current negotiations and also on the complexity of the conveyancing process. Due to the commercially sensitive nature of site acquisitions, it is not possible to comment further at this stage. QUESTION
To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the provision of a new secondary school for the Swords area of County Dublin as announced in November 2015; if he has identified locations for the proposed school; and if he will make a statement on the matter. REPLY My Department has secured planning permission for a Post-Primary school (Swords Community College RN 76475D) on the Mooretown site in North Swords. A tender competition has taken place to appoint a building contractor to provide permanent accommodation on that site. The Letter of Intent to the successful contractor has issued. When the documentation requested in the letter of Intent is received a letter of Acceptance will then issue and the project will then proceed to construction. The school opened in September 2018 within existing school accommodation. QUESTION
To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the primary schools in Kinsealy, Malahide and Portmarnock that currently have ASD units; and if he will make a statement on the matter. REPLY Individual school boards of management are responsible for the establishment of special classes. It is open to any school in the area to make application to the National Council for Special education (NCSE) to establish a class. The National Council for Special Education, an independent agency of my Department, is responsible for planning, coordinating and advising on education provision for children with special educational needs. The Council ensures that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all children who have been identified as needing special class placements. The NCSE’s team of locally based Special Education Needs Organisers (SENOs) are available to assist and advise parents whose children have special needs and identify available placements. They also support and advise schools in this area. Parents who are experiencing difficulties in locating a special class placement, should contact their local SENO. In deciding where to establish a special class in an area, the NCSE take account of the current and projected demand and the available school accommodation both current and planned. In this regard, the SENO may approach individual schools to discuss the matter with a view to finding the optimal location in terms of convenience and sustainability. When the NCSE sanction a special class in a school, the school can apply to my Department for capital funding to re-configure existing spaces within the school building to accommodate the class and/or to construct additional accommodation. From time to time, the NCSE identifies local areas where additional special class provision is required. In those circumstances, Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) work with the schools and families concerned to resolve the issues involved. This process is ongoing and the NCSE are actively engaging with schools in relation to establishing ASD classes where there is an identified need for the 2019/2020 school year. 160 new special classes have been opened for the 2018/19 school year, which means there are now 1,459 special classes in place, compared to 548 in 2011. There are 237 special classes attached to mainstream schools in Co. Dublin. Of these, 17 are ASD early intervention classes, 139 are primary ASD classes and 41 are post primary ASD classes. The number of ASD special classes in Co. Dublin have increased from 66 in 2011/2012 to 197 in 2018/2019. There are 6 primary special classes in the areas referred to by the Deputy, comprising 1 Early Intervention ASD class and 2 ASD primary classes. Details of all special classes for children with special educational needs are available on www.ncse.ie. My Department is aware that the establishment of special provision in some schools and communities can be challenging. The Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018 will assist in addressing this issue in areas where the NCSE is of the opinion that there is insufficient education provision for children with special educational needs. Section 8 of the Act provides the Minister with a power, after a process of consultation with the NCSE, the board of management and the patron of the school, to compel a school to make additional provision for the education of children with special educational needs |
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All Parlamientary Questions I make about schools in Dublin Fingal and their answers can be viewed in this section Archives
December 2019
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