Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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438. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the funding allocated under the additional school accommodation scheme for each of the years 2022 to 2025 as per the agreed capital ceilings outlined in the national development plan. [16473/22]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Under Project Ireland 2040, the education sector will receive a total of approximately €4.4 billion capital investment over the period 2021-2025.

This significant investment allows us to move forward with certainty on our ambitious plans and deliver high quality building projects, with a real focus on sustainability, for school communities across Ireland. This investment will also build on the good progress being made on adding capacity to cater for demographic changes and provision for children with special educational needs. This investment will also facilitate an increased focus on the modernisation of existing school stock and help transition the school system for an era of net zero carbon by 2050.

My Departments Capital planning and budgeting is undertaken on a multi-annual basis and provides an inclusive allocation to all school projects on the School Building Programme. In excess of 80% of funding is allocated towards Large Scale projects, Additional Accommodation Scheme, and Site acquisition which is ensuring provision of additional capacity across the school system. Specific scheme allocations are determined annually.

The capital allocation for my Department in 2022 is €792.4m of which €695m has been assigned to the School Building Programme. Supplementary accommodations (school halls, new canteen facilities, new laboratories) are incorporated into overall project delivery. Furthermore €65 million has been allocated to fund 497 Summer Works Scheme projects for delivery in 2022.

The 2021 capital allocation for the School Building Programme was €665.5m. A further €156m was sanctioned for the School Building Programme through the Supplementary Estimate process and from savings in other subheads due to the strong spend and delivery on this programme. This funding also facilitated the provision of a €62 million enhanced Minor Works Grants to Primary and Post Primary schools to assist schools with the continued operation of schools in the Covid environment.

During the period 2018 to 2021 circa €440m has been spent on the Additional Accommodation Scheme, an average of €110m a year.

Currently there are approximately 1,200 school building projects for delivery under the Department’s Large Scale and Additional Accommodation Scheme. These projects are currently in progress across the various stages of planning, design, tender and construction - most of which are expected to be either under construction or completed in the period up to 2025. There are currently in excess of 250 school building projects at construction (on site) with a continuous stream of other projects at or near the tendering stage.

Additional information, including the current status of projects being delivered, is listed on a county by county basis on www.gov.ie and is updated on a monthly basis to reflect their progress through the various stages.