Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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539. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when the stage 3 process for a school (details supplied) began; the processes involved in Stage 3; the length of time on average Stage 3 will take; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48634/25]

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

The project has received full grant of planning permission and is currently at Stage 3 of the architectural planning design process which includes Tender Action, Evaluation and Award. When this stage is concluded, the project will progress to construction in due course. The length of time a project takes to go through each stage varies and depends on a number of factors, including scale and complexity.

It is not possible at this time to give a date for completion of the project. However, the NDFA will continue to engage directly with the school authority in regard to progressing 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 roll out 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 roll out 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.