Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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375. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if all schools included in the current capital plan will be protected and not excluded from the next capital plan following the upcoming review; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31717/20]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform outlined in the 2021 Budget Speech a planned review of the National Development Plan. The resulting revised National Development Plan aims to safeguard capital spending supports for regional development and to ensure alignment with Programme for Government priorities for the next decade. This review will be launched shortly and my Department, along with all other Government Departments, will fully participate in the planned review.

Project Ireland 2040 provides a funding envelope of €8.8 billion for the schools sector over the period 2018-2027. Since 2018 there has been in excess of €1.2bn invested in Capital Infrastructure under the School Building Programme. A further €725m is allocated for investment in 2020.

My Department has a large pipeline of projects for delivery under the school building programme. The pipeline of projects is kept under continual review to ensure alignment with Project Ireland 2040 objectives and the funding provided under the National Development Plan during the period 2018 to 2027 for the schools sector is key enabler for their successful delivery. The main elements of this pipeline currently involve over 372 projects on the Department’s Large Scale Capital Programme and circa. 800 projects for delivery under the Department’s Additional Accommodation Scheme. Good progress continues to be made with the rollout of projects, and the current status of projects being delivered is listed on a county by county basis on the Department’s website at www.education.ie and updated on a monthly basis to reflect their progress through the various stages of capital appraisal, site acquisition, design, tender and construction.