Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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291. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills for an update on a new school building project (details supplied). [52714/25]

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

The brief for this project is to provide an extension and refurbishment to the existing school building to accommodate a long-term projected enrolment of 1,000 pupils and also provide a 4 classroom SEN base for the school.

The project is currently at Stage 2b (post planning process) of the architectural process which allows for detailed design and planning, obtaining the necessary statutory permissions and the preparation of tender documents. When this stage has been finalised and approved, the next stage is tendering for a contractor and then onwards to construction in due course.

While at this early stage it is not possible to provide a timeline for completion of this project, the NDFA will continue to engage directly with the school authorities to keep them fully informed of progress on 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 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 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.

James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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292. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of a project at a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52743/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The school referred to by the Deputy is part of a shared educational campus which was completed in Q4 2023 and delivered a new 1,000 pupil post-primary school and two 24 classroom primary schools and accommodation, including 14 classrooms across the three projects, for children with special education needs. The campus project also delivered 3 GP areas, a PE Hall in the post-primary school and 13 ballcourts in total.

The lands to the south of the site have been designated as a flood retention area as required under the campus flood mitigation design. The area will be subject to ponding of water and potential flooding given that the these lands are designed to retain overflow flood waters during periods of heavy rainfall.

A planning application was submitted to the local authority by the contractor to provide the access road and entrance to this area. Notification of Decision to Grant Planning Permission was received from Cork County Council on 20th February 2025. Upon completion of these works, the area can be made available and will be managed by the post-primary school in terms of shared access for all three schools on the campus as a green area.