Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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462. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if a modular build for a school (details supplied) will be expedited. [47828/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The school to which the Deputy refers was granted capital funding for the provision of two Special Educational Needs Classrooms (SEN), under my Department’s SEN Reconfiguration and Modular Accommodation programme.

This programme involves the use of Project Management supports which is designed to enable the accommodation to be provided as quickly as possible and help ease the administrative workload for school authorities in relation to the management and delivery of projects.

Kerrigan Sheanon Newman (KSN) has been appointed, from the Department’s Framework, to design and tender the project at the school in question. This is a collaborative process between the Project Manager, School Authority and the Department.

Due to the scale of additional accommodation a statutory application for planning permission was necessary. The final grant of planning permission for this project was received from the local authority at the end of August 2025. Construction of the modular accommodation has commenced with the current tentative expected completion date for handover of the accommodation to the school authority expected at the end of Q3 2026. Given the longer lead-in period involved due to statutory consent, it is acknowledged that contingency arrangements will need to be put in place at local school level in consultation with the National Council for Special Education (NCSE).

My Department is fully aware of the urgency in respect of this accommodation and will be working closely with the Project Managers and School Authority to keep it updated on overall project delivery and timelines.

John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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463. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills for an update on progress, the timeline and commencement of works at a proposed new school (details supplied). [47830/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The major building project referred to by the Deputy will deliver a new 1,000 pupil post-primary school with 6 classrooms for children with special education needs.

The project will be delivered under my Department's ADAPT 4 Programme - Programme Innovate. This programme will be led by Integrated Project Teams consisting of highly skilled and experienced design professionals, architects, engineers, project managers, quantity surveyors and various other consultants to deliver the projects.

The project is currently at the initial stage of architectural planning - Pre-Stage 1 where the Integrated Project Team carry out a site and current building assessment and initial design sketch schemes are created.

It will not be possible to estimate the date of commencement of works until the project has secured all essential statutory approvals.

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 the 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 Department will continue to keep the school and its patron body updated on progress and next steps.