Written answers
Tuesday, 20 May 2025
Department of Education and Skills
Schools Building Projects
Jen Cummins (Dublin South Central, Social Democrats)
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409. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of school building projects in Dublin south central, including any projects delayed due to inflation or capital budget constraints, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25138/25]
Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Since 2020, my department has invested over €6 billion in our schools throughout the country, involving the completion of over 1350 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 €1.5bn.
In April 2024 the department announced that close to 90 projects, including 28 new school buildings, would be authorised to proceed from tender stage to construction over the course of 2024 and early 2025. In total, around €800 million is being invested in these projects under the department’s Large Scale Capital Programme and Additional Accommodation Scheme for essential classroom accommodation.
Between projects currently under construction and projects moving to construction in this latest phase, investments by the Department of Education are adding over 610,000 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 key drivers of capital investment in the school’s sector include:
- demographic growth, particularly at post primary level,
- increased demand for special educational needs provision,
- alignment of school place provision with new housing development,
- climate action objectives including deep energy retrofit.
The period since 1 January 2020 has been characterised by significant inflation across all areas of the construction sector including the schools sector. This has been due to factors such as Brexit, Covid and the impact of the war in Ukraine etc.
The public works contract includes standard mechanisms for dealing with change orders that can arise during the course of construction such as for example to facilitate the inclusion of additional accommodation for special classes. These mechanisms were adjusted in recent years by the Office of Government Procurement to cater for the increased volatility in the construction sector due to the impact of elevated levels of inflation. There are robust arrangements in place for managing all such matters.
Below is a list of projects progressing in Dublin south central. The status of all school building projects is publicly available and regularly updated on my Department’s website at www.gov.ie, reflecting progress through the various stages of capital appraisal, site acquisition.
| Roll Number | School Name | Project Type | Programme List | Current Stage | Constituency 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 07546J | GOLDENBRIDGE CONVENT | Extension & Refurbishment | Large Scale Capital Programme | Stage 3 | Dublin South-Central |
| 17083B | SCOIL MHUIRE GAN SMAL | Extension | Additional School Accommodation Scheme | Stage 1 | Dublin South-Central |
| 17683C | SCOIL MHUIRE OGH 2 | Extension | Additional School Accommodation Scheme | Stage 1 | Dublin South-Central |
| 18386B | MARIST NATIONAL SCH | Extension | Additional School Accommodation Scheme | Stage 3 | Dublin South-Central |
| 18585H | MARY QUEEN OF ANGELS 1 | Extension | Additional School Accommodation Scheme | Stage 3 | Dublin South-Central |
| 18843D | MARY QUEEN OF ANGELS 2 BNS | Extension | Additional School Accommodation Scheme | Stage 4 | Dublin South-Central |
| 19151C | ST JOHN OF GOD SP SCH | SEN Reconfiguration | Additional School Accommodation Scheme | Stage 1 | Dublin South-Central |
| 19764M | OUR LADY OF THE WAYSIDE NS | Extension | Additional School Accommodation Scheme | Stage 2b | Dublin South-Central |
| 19764M | OUR LADY OF WAYSIDE N S | Extension | Purchase Temporary Accommodation | Stage 1 | Dublin South-Central |
| 19837N | DRIMNAGH CASTLE CBS N S | Extension | Modular Accommodation Framework | Project Brief | Dublin South-Central |
| 20593S | SPECIAL SCHOOL BALLYFERMOT (TBC) | New School Building | Large Scale Capital Programme | Stage 1 | Dublin South-Central |
| 60510M | ST. SETON'S SECONDARY SCHOOL | Extension | Additional School Accommodation Scheme | Stage 1 | Dublin South-Central |
| 60792C | PRESENTATION SECONDARY SCHOOL | Extension | Additional School Accommodation Scheme | Stage 3 | Dublin South-Central |
| 60792C | PRESENTATION COLLEGE | Extension & Refurbishment | Additional School Accommodation Scheme | Stage 1 | Dublin South-Central |
| 60841M | ROSARY COLLEGE | Extension | Additional School Accommodation Scheme | Stage 4 | Dublin South-Central |
| 60872A | MERCY SECONDARY SCHOOL | Extension | Additional School Accommodation Scheme | Stage 1 | Dublin South-Central |
| 60872A | MERCY SECONDARY SCHOOL | Extension | Modular Accommodation Framework | Stage 2 | Dublin South-Central |
| 60991I | OUR LADY OF MERCY SECONDARY SCHOOK | Extension | Additional School Accommodation Scheme | Stage 2b | Dublin South-Central |
| 68445V | ST SETONS SECONDARY SCHOOL | New School Building | Large Scale Capital Programme | Stage 1 | Dublin South-Central |
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