Brian Brennan (Wicklow-Wexford, Fine Gael)
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1040. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills for an update on the progress of a school building project (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47338/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The project referred to by the Deputy has been devolved to the National Development Finance Agency (NDFA) for delivery as part of a programme of school building projects.

The brief for the project is to provide a new build replacement school for a long-term projected enrolment of 1,000 pupils including a 4 class SEN base.

The project is currently at Stage 2b (post planning process) of the architectural process which allows for detailed design and planning, obtaining the necessary statutory permissions and the preparation of tender documents. When this stage has been finalised and approved, the next stage is tendering for a contractor and then onwards to construction in due course.

While at this early stage it is not possible to provide a timeline for completion of this project, the NDFA will continue to engage directly with the school authorities to keep them fully informed of progress on this important project.

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 1,400 school building projects. Government support for this investment, including by way of supplementary capital funding, has delivered real benefits for school communities. Supplementary capital funding of €210 million approved by Government has brought the total capital allocation for 2025 for my department to €1.6 billion.

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.

The current status of all projects is listed on a county-by-county basis at www.gov.ie. and this is updated on a regular basis to reflect project progress through the various stages of capital appraisal, site acquisition, design, tender and construction.