James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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448. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding the additional accommodation project application lodged by a school (details supplied); the position regarding assessment of the amended stage 2b report; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47719/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The school referred to was approved to enter the Departments pipeline of school buildings for a project to provide 4 Mainstream classrooms and a 2 Classroom SEN base. The project has been devolved for delivery to the school authority.

Approval to Stage 2B (planning) of the architectural design process was granted to the school authority in Q4 2023. A Stage 2B report was received in Q4 2024 and is currently being reviewed from both a technical and cost perspective in accordance with the requirements of the Public Spending Code. All projects, including this one, will undergo the necessary due diligence outlined in the public Infrastructure Guidelines.

Furthermore, as part of the National Development Plan (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 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 NDP implementation plan will be considered as part of the ongoing review of this school building project. Once the NDP implementation plan is finalised my Department will be in a position to inform the school of the outcome regarding the progression of this project.