Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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308. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the current status of the proposed services (details supplied); the progress made to date; the expected timeline for delivery; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50041/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The project referred to by the Deputy is a campus project devolved for delivery to Galway and Roscommon Educational Training Board (GRETB).

This project was approved to proceed to tender and moved to Stage 3 of the architectural planning design process - Tender Action – Evaluation and Award in February 2025.

The Department awaits the outcome of the tendering process to be submitted by the Design Team.

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

In July 2025 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.