Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is not often I am asked in this House to behave like the man above. I am not sure what I can deliver from purgatory. Nonetheless, I heard what Deputy Byrne said about the conditions, which he told us are unique and among the worst in the country. He also spoke of the commitment of the staff. While I am not personally familiar with the school, I know that schools where conditions are not good or are very poor often have the most committed staff. I have a response here from the Minister for education and my job is to read it to the Deputy.

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I am speaking on behalf of the Minister for education. The project referred to by the Deputy is devolved for delivery to the Waterford and Wexford Education and Training Board, WWETB. The project brief is to provide an extension to the existing school building, as well as the appropriate refurbishment of those existing buildings to be retained for ongoing educational use. As the Deputy said, the project is currently at stage 2b - I will remember the term "purgatory" again - of the architectural design process. A stage 2b report has been received from WWETB. The report is undergoing a detailed technical and cost review in line with the infrastructure guidelines. All projects, including this one, are subject to such due diligence requirements.

The Department has been actively engaged with the design team and school authority throughout the process and will continue to engage to provide practical advice and assistance on this important project. The Department has a strong track record of investing in the schools building programme, with over €7 billion invested since 2020. This has delivered approximately 1,500 completed school building projects, along with approximately 4,300 small-scale improvement works to meet priority maintenance needs and advance energy efficiency and climate goals.

Over €200 million in capital funding has been invested in Wexford schools since 2020. Over this period, a total of 66 schools in Wexford have been upgraded either through provision of a new school building, a large-scale extension or modular accommodation. There are currently 17 school projects in Wexford under construction.

A total capital allocation of €7.55 billion for the Department of Education and Youth has been confirmed for the period 2026 to 2030 under the national development plan, NDP. As part of this allocation, the Department will place a strong emphasis on provision for children with special educational needs, with a particular focus on meeting annual school place needs.

In relation to project roll-out for large-scale projects and additional school accommodation scheme projects, the approach will be to continue to maximise the capacity of the existing school estate as much as possible in the first instance and provide necessary additional capacity through targeted and prioritised project roll-out over the course of 2026 to 2030 period to meet the most urgent and prioritised needs.

While not every project could be included in the first tranche, all projects continue to move through the pipeline. Urgent accommodation needs will continue to be met through modular delivery, SEN repurposing and the emergency works scheme. As part of the Department-led prioritisation process under way for 2026 and 2027, consultation with school patrons began last month. A further tranche of priority projects is targeted for publication in 2027, informed by departmental analysis, engagement with patrons and schools, funding parameters and, where relevant, the Department's energy and condition inventory of the school estate, due for completion by year-end.

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