Eoghan Kenny (Cork North-Central, Labour)
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299. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills for a detailed update on the proposed lease agreement between schools (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49981/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I can confirm that my department is in receipt of an application for funding under the Additional Schools Accommodation (ASA) scheme from the school in question.

The school was issued a provisional letter of offer following their application for capital funding and on the basis of the agreed brief the Department's project managers were appointed to carry out a viability report on the school building and a proposed neighbouring building. The viability report and a subsequent conservation report have been reviewed by the department's Technical staff with no technical issues reported. The viability of the proposed project is contingent on a lease agreement between the school and the neighbouring landowner.

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 application from the school in question will be considered in this context and the school authorities will be contacted with a decision as soon as possible.

In relation to any proposed lease agreement between the school in question and the neighbouring landowner, this is a matter for the parties themselves as the department will not be a party to the lease.