Louis O'Hara (Galway East, Sinn Fein)
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595. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 143 of 8 April 2025, if a decision has been made on a new school building; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23984/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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All applications from schools for major capital works must be considered in the context of capacity requirements and climate action commitments. The priority of my Department continues to be the provision of required additional school places to meet demographic requirements as well as for children with special educational needs.

My Department is required to manage the allocated capital funding across all schools in the country. The Department’s approach is to maximise the usage of existing capacity in schools and, in tandem with this, to manage the progression of the existing pipeline of projects within available budgets and in line with the Government’s Infrastructure Guidelines. The school referred to by the Deputy has refused proposed investment in the existing school which the Department believes would have dealt with some of its stated requirements.

It is a priority for Government to deliver on Ireland’s ambitious climate agenda and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. My Department is leading an ambitious sustainability agenda and has progressed a wide array of measures to improve the overall sustainability of our school buildings. This includes targets around the decarbonisation of Ireland’s public buildings. The Department has recently announced a new summer works programme to supports its sustainability programme. Details of this programme are available on gov.ie. The plan for further investment at national level will be informed by the outcome of an Energy and Condition survey of all schools which is currently underway. The subsequent analysis of this significant amount of data will help determine priorities going forward in relation to retrofit and refurbishment projects. The process may ultimately identify a requirement for the replacement of some accommodation, but this is not expected to be widespread. This overall process is particularly valuable in facilitating a proportionate assessment of a school’s accommodation upgrade needs relative to all other schools and allow an effective prioritisation of capital investment.

While the pace of delivery of additional residential development in school planning areas, along with updated enrolment data and demographic data is kept under constant review and will inform the timing of school expansion requirements, the Department is satisfied that there is currently sufficient capacity in the school planning area for the school referred to by the Deputy.

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 and with construction currently underway at approximately 300 other projects, which includes new school buildings some of which are being delivered in phases. These 300 projects currently at construction involve a total State investment of over €1.5 billion. This is an unprecedented level of investment in our school communities throughout the country. The new Programme for Government sets out further ambitious plans for the school sector and indicates increased capital funding under the National Development Plan. This is very positive and will provide a good platform for investment in our overall school infrastructure.

My Department will continue to engage with the school directly regarding its immediate and longer term requirements in this context.