Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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542. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 112 of 29 March 2023, as a public representative for the Mayo constituency and in the context of withheld information, if she will confirm with regard to relevant matters (details supplied), the school building projects that are currently on hold or paused due to capital funding pressures. [17341/23]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I am pleased to inform the Deputy that on 5 April an agreement was secured to guarantee and support the rollout and continuation of my Department’s ambitious school building programme.

My Department has a proven track record of delivery, with over 180 projects completed last year within a challenging environment of high inflation, labour shortages and supply chain issues.

This year alone, over 300 school building projects are currently under construction, including 40 new school buildings and 260 projects at existing schools. There are also over 1,000 other school building projects being progressed through various stages of development.  My Department also continues to support schools with the successful integration of over 15,000 Ukrainian students within our school system.

The agreement reached on 5 April will facilitate the continued rollout of urgently required school building projects in both mainstream and special education settings, including the 58 projects that were temporarily paused due to capital funding pressures. 

My Department is very appreciative of the strong support provided by Government for the education budget.

Officials from my Department have updated each of the 58 schools in relation to the formal arrangements and next steps in respect of the delivery of their individual projects.

The current status of all projects are listed on a county by county basis at www.gov.ie and is updated on a regular basis to reflect their progress through the various stages of capital appraisal, site acquisition, design, tender and construction.