Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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563. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the percentage of her 2023 capital budget allocation that was actually spent in the first nine months of the year. [48749/23]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Through Project Ireland 2040, we are investing at least €5 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. My Department has a proven track record of delivery, with over 180 projects completed last year within a challenging construction sector environment of high inflation, labour shortages and supply chain issues.

Key priorities for my Department are supporting the operation of the school system and adding necessary capacity to cater for special education needs provision, mainstream demographics and the accommodation of students from Ukraine and other countries under the International Protection system.

There are currently in excess of 300 school building projects under construction, including over 40 new school building projects, with extension/refurbishment projects at existing schools making up the balance. This is supplemented as required through the use of modern methods of construction, such as the modular accommodation programme, to meet additional capacity requirements beyond the aforementioned projects.

My Department has a strong track record of project delivery. In this regard, its capital allocation has always been under significant pressure. It has a strong track record of fully utilising its capital allocation, and in many years requiring supplementary capital funding, to deliver urgently required school building projects. While the Department’s original published NDP capital allocation in 2023 of €860 million had been expended by the end Q3 2023, an agreement was secured with the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform in April this year to extend the level of capital funding available for 2023. This agreement has been facilitating the continued rollout of urgently required school building projects in both mainstream and special education settings.