Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

494. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the amount in funding in total that has been secured from REPowerEU to fund an expanded school pathfinder decarbonisation and retrofit programme in 2025; if she will provide the names of the 40 schools that have been selected for initial assessment based on their building profile for the programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29026/25]

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

495. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the criteria used by her Department to allow a school to qualify for inclusion for initial assessment under the pathfinder decarbonisation and retrofit programme for 2025; if all schools that have been selected for initial assessment have been confirmed and have been contacted; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29027/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I propose to take Questions Nos. 494 and 495 together.

My Department was successful in 2024 securing circa €86m to fund a pathfinder decarbonisation and retrofit programme for delivery in 2025.

The schools which will benefit from the retrofitting funding were selected using data obtained from the pilot phase of the Schools Energy Inventory project. This project covered schools in Kildare, Meath, Offaly, Wicklow and Wexford. It was completed with support from the European Investment Bank. The REPowerEU programme is also facilitating the nationwide expansion of the energy inventory surveys, which are currently underway across the remaining 21 counties.

As part of a risk management approach to ensure the achievement of Value for Money and the full utilisation of the EU funding within the tight timelines, a total of 40 schools participated in the planning and design stages of the programme on the agreed basis that not all projects would proceed to construction. This provided flexibility in managing risks such as planning delays, ESB Networks infrastructure requirements, and challenges in tendering or project delivery. The list of 40 schools are included at Appendix 1 attached.

The programme targeted schools of a scale and size that would typically ensure compatibility to completing the works over a single school term/summer holiday period. Compatible with this approach was typically 8 to 10 classroom primary schools and Post Primary schools with similar floor area

Each school underwent a detailed, staged assessment process with final decisions based on key criteria including technical feasibility, value for money, alignment with programme timelines and compatibility with the overall funding envelope.

Eight multi-disciplinary design teams and twelve contractors have entered into contract under the Department’s REPowerEU programme marking a significant step forward in its rapid delivery.

The full list of schools that will proceed to retrofit this summer are listed in the press release that issued on 9th June 2025 -