Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am taking this Topical Issue matter on behalf of the Minister for Education. The Deputy is quite right. I am in a similar position to the Deputy as my county has the same needs and pressures. I thank him for raising this matter as it gives me the opportunity to provide an update to the House on the current position regarding a number of school building projects that are on hold from proceeding to either tender or construction due to capital funding pressures.

The Department's capital allocation has always been under significant pressure and it has a strong track record of fully utilising it and in many years requiring supplementary capital funding to deliver urgently required school building projects. These pressures on the capital allocation have been compounded since the National development plan, NDP, allocations were determined in 2021 by the impact of high construction inflation, the increasing prevalence of autism and other complex special education needs that require the accelerated delivery of special educational needs provision at pace, and the urgent need to provide capacity for students from Ukraine and other countries under the international protection system. The national priority within the NDP for increasing the roll-out of housing is also adding to pressures on the Department's capital allocation given the knock-on impact for additional school provision requirements.

The Department's published NDP allocation for 2023 is €860 million. As part of its planning ahead for 2023, the Department is engaging with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform regarding capital funding pressures to continue to be able to support adequately the operation of the school system with roll-out of school building projects to tender and construction in 2023, including the projects referenced in the media reports.

Under the Department's large-scale additional accommodation scheme, 58 school building projects are currently on hold due to capital funding pressures. More than 180 school building projects were delivered during 2022, which included accelerated delivery of modular accommodation to support provision for 900 pupils with special educational needs. A total of 300 school building projects continued in construction at the start of 2023, most of which will be completed in 2023 or early 2024. This includes more than 40 new school buildings. All of these projects are helping to support the operation of our schools, are delivered to the highest standard, and are very energy efficient. This strong level of delivery is a key driver of capital pressures in the Department.

Other key achievements under the school building programme in 2022 include strategic initiatives put in place to support planning for school provision requirements; the setting up of 16 regional education and language teams, REALTs, to facilitate enrolment of 15,000 children from Ukraine; necessary smaller scale refurbishment and maintenance in 1,000 schools; and 16 deep energy retrofit pathfinder projects ongoing in partnership with the Sustainable Energy Authority Ireland, SEAI. Strategic initiatives put in place to support delivery include use of project manager supports, procurement frameworks, a variety of delivery mechanisms, and a strong pipeline of projects.

It is also important to note the Department was very successful in accommodating 15,000 pupils from Ukraine. These pressures have resulted in the need for the Department's planning and building unit to assess its work programme and priorities for 2023 in the context of its available funding. This review is ongoing.

It is important also to say that when the Taoiseach took Leaders' Questions yesterday, he said there would be that collective effort to go to the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform to seek additional funding exactly to speak to the point that we need to ensure stability and confidence within the schools and for the builders who tendered on those projects.

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