Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The National Development Plan sets out the national priorities and funding levels for the school building programme. Key priorities under the National Development Plan 2021 to 2030 include:

Continuing to cater for additional capacity requirements

- Provision of accommodation for special classes with a particular emphasis on ramping up provision at post-primary level to facilitate a smooth transition from primary level

- Delivering on Climate Action agenda and integrating, where possible, on modernisation of existing school infrastructure

- Strengthening asset management and maintenance regime across schools

My Department has a strong track record of delivery. During the period 2018 to 2022, nearly 900 school building projects were completed.

Through Project Ireland 2040, we are investing €4.4 billion over the period 2021 to 2025, to add capacity and develop and upgrade school facilities across the country for the almost one million students and over 100,000 staff that learn and work in our schools every day.

The key drivers of capital investment in the schools sector are as follows:

- demographic change, including keeping pace with delivery of SEN and accommodation for Ukrainian pupils particularly at Post Primary

- alignment with housing provision and national planning at school planning area level,

- construction costs,

- climate action objectives including deep energy retrofit.

The continued high level of construction inflation (21% in the schools sector between Q2 2021 and Q2 2022) together with the increased requirements in terms of demographics, SEN and Ukrainian students all add to capital funding pressures to be managed. In this regard, additional supplementary funding of €300m was provided in 2022 to support this strong project rollout.

These challenges will continue to be managed as best as possible in 2023 and beyond and it is envisaged that they will also get reflected, as appropriate, in the next review of the overall NDP allocations that is due to take place later in 2023.

We continue to have a strong pipeline of projects for delivery under the school building programme involving circa 300 projects at construction and in excess of 1,000 projects at the various stages of appraisal and design.

The current status of all projects is listed on the Department’s website and this is updated on a monthly basis as part of our overall communications

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour)
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124. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when the primary school which is mentioned in the Woodbrook-Shanganagh Local Area Plan, Shankill, County Dublin will be provided; and the planned patronage for same. [4717/23]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The planned establishment of a new primary school in 2021 to serve the Bray/Woodbrook Shanganagh school planning area was announced in 2018 as a result of a countrywide demographic exercise. Further analysis has since been conducted on the necessity for the establishment of a number of planned new schools, including the school to serve this school planning area, taking into account a number of factors, including the pace of delivery of the expected additional residential development in the school planning areas, associated enrolments and the capacity in existing schools in the areas.

Provision has been made in the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Development Plan for a designated primary school site in the Woodbrook area. This site is ideally located to serve the planned new residential developments in Woodbrook and Shanganagh.

It had been projected, in 2018, that these residential lands would be developed in a shorter timeframe. However, two significant residential developments in this area have now commenced and will be built out in over the next number of years.

My Department is satisfied that the existing demand in the Bray/Woodbrook Shanganagh school planning area can be accommodated at present by the existing and growing schools in this area. As a result, the establishment of the planned new school has been deferred.

The pace of delivery of additional residential development in this school planning area, along with updated enrolment data and demographic data will be kept under review and this will inform the timing of school requirements. My Department will continue to liaise with the Local Authority in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and local developers in respect to the projected completion of these residential developments.

A patronage process is run after it has been decided, based on demographic analysis, that a new school is to be established. This patronage process is open to all patron bodies and prospective patrons. Parental preferences for each patron, from parents of children who reside in the school planning areas concerned, together with the extent of diversity currently available in these areas, are key to decisions in relation to the outcome of this process.

The new Online Patronage Process System (OPPS) has been developed by my Department to provide objective information to all parents and guardians which will allow them to make an informed choice in expressing a preference for their preferred model of patronage for their child’s education.