Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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My Department has a strong track record of delivery of school building projects and this was achieved again in 2023 notwithstanding the wider construction sector environment of high inflation, labour shortages and supply chain issues.

Under Project Ireland 2040, we are investing over €5 billion during 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 is very appreciative of the strong support provided by Government for our education budget. As part of the supplementary budget, €405m additional capital funding was provided in 2023. This helped to alleviate capital funding pressures that arose in 2023 which was reflective of the strong delivery by my Department of school building projects – particularly to support mainstream provision accommodating Ukrainian students and special education needs provision. My Department’s overall capital outturn for 2023 was €1.264 billion.

We continue to have a strong pipeline of projects for delivery under the school building programme involving circa. 300 projects currently at construction, which include 34 new school buildings. We also have a large modular accommodation programme delivering urgently needed school places. The Department has always operated a tightly prioritised approach to the school building programme, focused over recent years on the delivery of additional capacity where required, and this will continue to be the case.

My Department's published NDP allocation for 2024 is €940 million. The Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform has commenced a process of engagement with capital spending departments on NDP allocations for the years ahead. My Department will be making a submission as part of this process which will address the factors underpinning future school investment requirements, including demographic factors. Key priorities for my Department's work programme include continuing strong delivery to support the operation of the school system with particular regard to planning ahead for the 2024/25 school year and beyond and also with particular regard to supporting special needs provision. 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.