Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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345. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide the details of costings provided to the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, in the context of the National Development Plan 2021-2030 review conducted earlier this year; and to provide a breakdown of each project and its projected cost in each of the years 2025 to 2030; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42713/24]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The National Development Plan 2021-30 (NDP) sets out the investment priorities that will underpin the successful implementation of the National Planning Framework (NPF) and wider Government policies.

Following a review earlier this year, NDP allocations were confirmed for all Departments for the period 2025 and 2026. The NDP allocation for the Department of Education was confirmed at €1.3 billion for each of these years.

Government has also approved a proposed supplementary estimate to provide additional capital funding in 2024 to guarantee and support the continued roll-out of the Department’s school building programme.

Due to commercial sensitivities it is not possible to provide cost estimates of projects prior to procurement processes being completed.

Since 2020, my department has invested over €5 billion in our schools throughout the country, involving the completion of over 950 school building projects and with construction currently underway at approximately 350 other projects, which includes 37 new school buildings. These 350 projects currently at construction involve a total State investment of over €1.5bn.

The Department announced earlier this year that close to 90 projects, including 28 new school buildings, have been authorised to proceed from tender stage to construction over the course of 2024 and early 2025. In total, around €800 million will be invested in these projects under the department’s Large Scale Capital Programme and Additional Accommodation Scheme for essential classroom accommodation.

This is a record level of investment in school buildings. It will expand the number of school places, significantly increase provision for special education and upgrade and modernise our school infrastructure. The impact of this will be felt in communities right around the country.

The current status of all projects is 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.