Aidan Farrelly (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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1058. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide a schedule of all capital projects being delivered or which have been completed by his Department and organisations under the aegis of his Department since 1 January 2020; and the total project cost of projects in excess of €500,000, or of any other capital projects below this that have come to his Department's attention for reasons of overspend or due to the fact that they failed to be delivered; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16685/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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Further and Higher Education Sector capital projects costs would be a matter for the respective education institution as the direct management of the vast majority of capital projects (with the exception of the PPP programmes) lie with the institutions delivering those projects. Many of the projects are co-funded by this Department, other Government Departments and Agencies and the institutes themselves, but the direct management of the projects resides with the institutions, with oversight from the HEA, SOLAS or GDA and my Department. Public Private Partnership (PPPs) are designed, built, financed, operated and maintained for 25 years by the selected private investor.

In the Higher Education Sector, DFHERIS allocations are approved at the relevant decision gates and any overspend arising is generally met by the institution itself regardless of the overall cost of the project. For Further Education and Training provision, any increase in cost can be dealt with by utilising a pre-determined contingency amount or a change order approval process in line per technical guidance.

Under the Energy Efficiency Decarbonisation Pathfinder Programme 2020, Trinity College Dublin were approved funding by my Department for the Moyne Institute Project. However, this project did not progress primarily because the proposed deviation in scope proposed by TCD would continue the building’s reliance on fossil fuels as a primary heat source. As such, the project was no longer considered to represent a pathfinder project.

Agencies under the remit of my Department are separate organisations. Attached are contact details for bodies under the aegis of my Department, should the Deputy wish to contact them directly.