Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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204. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the current position regarding the Saint Columba's College building project now that the tender report has been submitted since July 2025; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54082/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The major building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is currently at Stage 3, Tender Action & Award.

The brief for this project is to provide a new extension and refurbishment of existing retained buildings on current restricted site to provide accommodation for 1000 pupils.

The Design Team have recently submitted the Main Contractor tender report to my Department which is currently under review by the multidisciplinary team.

The Department have carried out an enabling works for minor works to secure the former Scoil Mhuire building as decant accommodation in advance of the major project, and this accommodation is being used by the school authorities in the interim following previous storm damage to prefab accommodation at St. Columba's College.

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.