Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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318. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when her Department intends to begin funding the construction of PE halls in secondary schools, as committed to in the Programme for Government; and if a specific timeline has been established for implementation. [13113/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I wish to confirm to the Deputy that investment and expenditure on PE Halls is an element of the overall School Building Programme. Almost 95% of the post primary schools that made 2020 Annual Schools Returns have indicated to the Department that they either have a PE Hall, access to a nearby PE Hall, or a project in train that will deliver a new PE Hall which can be used as a sports facility.

As the Deputy will be aware, investment and expenditure on PE Halls is an element of the overall expenditure and investment in the School Building Programme. The provision of General Purpose (GP) rooms and PE Halls, at primary and post primary level respectively, form part of a suite of ancillary facilities as well as outdoor hard play areas, provided as part of new school buildings or where a major building or refurbishment project is being delivered for an existing school.

The main focus of resources over the last decade and currently is on provision of additional capacity to cater for increasing demographics particularly at post-primary level and for provision to meet the needs of children with special educational needs. Since 2020, my department has invested over €5.8 billion in our schools throughout the country, involving the completion of over 1,300 school building projects. Between projects currently under construction and projects moving to construction in the coming months, investments by the Department of Education are adding over 600,000 square metres of new and modernised capacity to our school estate. 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 Programme for Government recognises the importance of strong capital investment in the school building programme and supporting this with enhanced allocations through the NDP process. This will enable us to move forward with certainty on our ambitious plans and deliver high quality building projects, with a real focus on sustainability and a strengthened focus on refurbishment of existing school stock which will include a PE build and modernisation programme which will enable students in post-primary schools to have access to appropriate facilities to support PE provision.