Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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97. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she is aware of any overspends exceeding €500,000 on projects undertaken or commissioned by her Department or by any State or semi-State body under the aegis of her Department in each of the past five years; if so, the number and extent of any such overspends, in tabular form; to outline the plans to ascertain levels of such overspends; the further plans to ensure that such information is reported to her Department in a timely fashion; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6517/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Each year, on the publication of the Department’s annual appropriation Accounts, extensive information is included in relation to project costs for large-scale projects in construction (over €10m), providing overall costs, expenditure to date and detailed notes in relation to where additional costs arose in those years in excess of €500,000. This is available on www.audit.gov.ie/en/publications/appropriation%20accounts/ The 2024 Appropriation Accounts are currently being finalised and will be published on 30 September 2024. The main drivers in relation to increase in project costs can occur due to emerging additional accommodation needs to cover in particular special classes to cater for pupils with additional needs, increasing demographics, OGP measures to combat inflation through the Co-Operation framework agreement and conditions imposed by Local Authorities etc.

My Department also provides annual updates on the current status of ongoing and completed large-scale school building projects to the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform for inclusion in the MyProjectIreland interactive map which was launched in May 2019 alongside the first Project Ireland 2040 Annual Report. This Tracker update, which incorporates user-friendly dashboards, provides a composite update on the progress of all major investments that make up Project Ireland 2040. While it mainly focuses on projects and programmes with estimated costs greater than €20 million, the School Building Programme provides information on all projects greater than €10m. This tracker, was last updated in May 2024, but is currently being updated by the National Investments Office for publication shortly.

The Department has detailed procedures in place for appraisal, design, tender and construction of all school building projects. Design Team Procedures that specify the points in the project lifecycle at which approval must be sought from the Department, i.e. Preliminary Design, Developed Design, Detailed Design, Tender and Construction which align with the Infrastructure Guidelines (formerly Public Spending Code) and Capital Works Management Framework. These processes include for robust stage approval reviews which challenges all elements of design and specification. These are an essential element of good cost control and supports market interest in our school building project.

The Public Works contract excludes provision for contingencies and because it is never possible to fully design each and every element of the project before tender, change orders do occur in public works contracts, these change orders are kept to a minimum by ensuring that each project is designed as comprehensively a possible in line with our Schools Design Guidance.

A recent analysis of over 90 schools’ major projects, amounting to just over €1.16 billion (contract sum), which have since reached substantial completion indicate an average cost increase of 9% on the tendered contract sums. The main drivers is in relation to increase in project costs can occur due to emerging additional accommodation needs to cover in particular special classes to cater for pupils with additional needs, increasing demographics, OGP measures to combat inflation through the Co-Operation framework agreement and conditions imposed by Local Authorities

General Inflation (CPI) has been volatile over the last number of years. Construction tender price inflation reached 13.4% in 2021 and 11.5% in 2022, while reducing to 4% over 2023. While the current rate of inflation is now returning to more “traditional” levels, the cumulative effect of inflation over the last three years has meant that overall construction costs remain high. The Department undertakes all appropriate procurement and tender processes to ensure that the prices obtained for school capital projects reflect current market conditions.

The information in respect of Aegis bodies, within the scope of the Deputy’s question, is not held by my Department. Contact details for these bodies are set out in the attached document should the Deputy wish to contact them directly with this query.