Nessa Cosgrove (Labour)
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Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. The Ursuline College in Sligo was founded in 1850 and is celebrating its 175th anniversary, on which I congratulate the staff and all the students. I worked in the college for 17 years as a youth liaison worker and my daughter is a student there so I have a big interest in the college.

If one looks at a photograph of the school from its early days one can see a very recognisable and beautiful structure. Much construction has taken place through the years. The school has worked really hard and upgraded its facilities from the 1860s onwards, and the original school building still remains in use. I give credit to the Ursuline nuns at the time for adapting to the needs of students throughout the years by adding science labs, study labs and concert halls. The Ursuline nuns made the most of what they had because they valued education. In fact, throughout our difficult history, it was one of the schools that kept progressing which is evident by the growth in student numbers. Again, music rooms, home economic rooms and technology rooms have been added. I commend all these developments, which are really welcome and hard fought for, but they concealed the obvious fact that a new school building was needed. In 2014, a comment was made, not by the school principal or the board of management, but by Tony Sheppard, who was the technical manager in the planning and building unit of the Department of education, that recommended the building of a new school to encompass the protected structures of the original school and the other buildings. An application was submitted which reached stage 2 and a detailed design was submitted in May 2024. I note an answer that the then Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, gave to the Dáil in response to other representatives who raised this issue in September 2024, which said that this stage should have taken approximately 12 months. The initial part of stage 3, pre-qualification of the contract, was completed in February of this year and a list of contractors has been drawn up. An updated cost plan for the project was submitted by the design team in May 2025 following consultations and various representations from the building unit. So now the school currently awaits permission from the Department of education to issue tenders to the pre-qualified list. Again, the then Minister, Deputy Foley, stated that Stage 3 should take approximately 12 months.

The urgency is felt by the entire school because the school is not fit for purpose. The completion of this project is a matter of urgency because the current planning permission is due to expire in May 2027. If construction has not reached an appropriate stage within the next 16 months, which in the grand scheme of things is not that far away, the development will have to go back to planning, thus creating additional delays and increasing costs. Significant costs have already been incurred throughout the planning process.

I ask the Minister of State to confirm the current status of this project, to state when the school community can expect stage 3 to be completed and to set out when can they expect it to move to stage 4, which is the construction phase.

Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for raising this matter as it gives me an opportunity to update the House on the current position regarding the major school building project for Ursuline College, Sligo. The project has been devolved to the school board of management for delivery, with the assistance of the joint managerial body. The brief for the project is to provide an extension and refurbishment which will deliver a 750-pupil post-primary school building.

The board of management has appointed a design team to design the accommodation being provided through the various stages of architectural planning. Projects progress from stage to stage in accordance with the project brief and the Department's design guidelines. The project for Ursuline College is currently at stage 2b, post-planning process of the architectural process, which allows for detailed design and planning, obtaining the necessary statutory permissions and preparing tender documents. At this juncture in the project, it is not feasible to give an indicative timeline for delivery. The Department will continue to engage directly with the school authority to provide assistance in regard to the project as required.

Since 2020, the Department has invested over €6 billion in schools throughout the country under the national development plan, involving the completion of over 1,300 school building projects. In addition, repurposing and the optimisation of existing accommodation capacity across the school estate has been a key enabler of timely, local provision of special class capacity in a way that supports best practice in inclusion and integration. Eighty percent of new classes in 2025-26 are being facilitated in repurposed classroom accommodation. In July, the Government announced a capital allocation of €7.55 billion for the Department of Education and Youth for the period 2026-30 under the national development plan. As part of this NDP 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. On 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 to provide necessary additional capacity through targeted and prioritised project roll-out over the course of the 2026-30 period to meet the most urgent and prioritised needs.

Nessa Cosgrove (Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State for the response but it is very disappointing. I note the line "it is not feasible to give an indicative timeline for delivery." I appreciate that there are lots of capital projects happening. I hope that the Minister of State can relay to the Department that there is an urgency due to the real fear of the lapse in planning permission. Over the 11 years since the new school project was recommended, €500,000 has been spent on the repair and maintenance of the old buildings. Also, these old buildings deteriorate every day. Not only that, but €2.3 million has been spent by the Department since January 2019 on fees and surveys for this project. I hope that the Department will progress this project as a matter of urgency. The risk that planning permission will lapse gives this a real urgency. The school is waiting and is stuck between two phases. I hope the Minister of State will relay these concerns to the Department. Additional provision was mentioned. The Ursuline College has adapted to the needs of students. By working within their old buildings, they have created two wonderful time-out runs for young people with additional needs. The school has met all the criteria but is stuck in limbo and I hope that the Minister of State will relay this back.

Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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I will of course relay the Senator's comments to the Minister. I went to a community school in its first year of being a community school, having previously been an Ursuline convent, so I have the benefit of having been educated by four wonderful Ursuline nuns, as part of a greater teaching team, during my time in school. I know that their contribution to education is absolutely outstanding. I will convey these concerns to the Department, on behalf of the Senator.