Written answers

Tuesday, 8 July 2025

Department of Education and Skills

Schools Building Projects

Photo of Darren O'RourkeDarren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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441. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the average cost of opening a new Gaelcholáiste in Dublin. [37847/25]

Photo of Helen McEnteeHelen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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There is a commitment in the Programme for Government to expand opportunities for pupils and students to attend Gaelscoileanna and Gaelcholáistí. Work on the development of a new policy for Irish-medium education outside of the Gaeltacht is in progress in my Department.

This policy will sit within the overall framework of the 20-year Strategy for the Irish language and will build on the achievements of the Policy on Gaeltacht Education. Among the objectives for the new policy are exploring how opportunities for the establishment of Gaelscoileanna and Gaelcholáistí can be increased as part of the patronage process.

There are now 248 Gaelscoileanna and 50 Gaelcholáistí across the country. Between 2020 and 2024, capital expenditure of circa €405 million was invested in Irish-medium schools, demonstrating the department’s commitment to the Irish-medium school sector.

The costs associated with establishing a new Gaelcholaíste varies considerably. The variance is impacted by among other factors, the extent of the accommodation to be provided, the extent of refurbishment of existing accommodation and any provision of new build accommodation, the linkage between new and existing facilities, the nature of site topography, geographical location and costs associated with complying with statutory requirements. The extent of the accommodation provided is informed by the Department's design guidelines for new schools while the basic building cost limit set by my department was increased from €1,990 per square metre to €2,420 last March to reflect underlying construction inflation. Site specific issues (such as poor ground conditions, traffic management arrangements, access roads, etc.) are costed separately on a project by project basis under the heading of Abnormal Costs.

Since 2020, my department has invested over €6 billion in our schools throughout the country under the National Development Plan, involving the completion of over 1,375 school building projects. Government support for this investment, including by way of supplementary capital funding, has delivered real benefits for school communities. A recent Government decision has approved €210m supplementary capital funding for my department which brings the total capital allocation for 2025 for my department to €1.6bn.

As part of the NDP Review process, all departments, including my department, are currently engaging with the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform with respect to NDP allocations for the period 2026-2030. It is expected that there will be clarity on these allocations over the course of the summer period, and this will allow my department to plan its capital investment programme for the 2026 to 2030 period in line with prioritised needs and reflecting, as appropriate, wider Government priorities. Maximising the use of existing capacity in the school estate to meet the requirement for the establishment of new Gaelcholáiste is very important in this context and is envisaged to expected to play an increasing role as a delivery mechanism in future.

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