Séamus McGrath (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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1007. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding the commencement of the detailed design stage for a school (details supplied) and the estimated duration of this stage. [47031/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The brief for the school referred to by the Deputy is the development of a new 16 classroom Primary School and 5 classes for children with Special Educational Needs at Janeville, Carrigaline, Co. Cork.

The project is currently at Stage 1 - Preliminary Design (assessment of site and location suitability and initial sketch scheme).

As part of the Stage 1 process the Design Team submit a Stage 1 Report to my Department. A preferred design option, including the scope and extent of works to be carried out form part of this report.

The Stage 1 Report was received in my Department in January 2025 and upon completion of the Departments due diligence review, the Stage 1 stakeholders meeting took place on 24th March 2025 where the Principal, a representative from Educate Together, all Design Team members, the Project Manager and Department officials were in attendance. The meeting concluded with agreement that the Design Team would explore further design layout options.

Further to this on the 30th of April an architectural workshop between the Design Team Architect and the Department Senior Architect.

My department are currently awaiting the submission of a full Design Team Stage 1 Addendum Report.

In July the Government announced a capital allocation of €7.55 billion for the Department of Education and Youth for the period 2026-2030 under the National Development Plan. As part of this NDP allocation my department will place a strong emphasis on provision for children with special educational needs, with a particular focus on meeting annual school place needs. In relation to project rollout for Large-Scale projects and Additional School Accommodation scheme projects, the approach will be to continue to maximise the capacity of the existing school estate as much as possible in the first instance and provide necessary additional capacity through targeted and prioritised project rollout over the course of 2026 to 2030 period to meet the most urgent and prioritised needs.

My department is now preparing an NDP implementation plan which is due for publication later in the Autumn. This plan will optimise outputs from the NDP allocations, with a strong focus on maximising existing school capacity, progressing priority projects where local capacity across schools in the area is insufficient, and ensuring delivery that is affordable, offers value for money, and meets functional needs.