Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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189. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the time frame for the construction of the new three school campus in a location (details supplied); and if she is satisfied that the intended construction dates will be met. [54378/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The project referred to by the Deputy has been devolved to Donegal Education and Training Board (DLETB).  

The brief for this project is to provide a three-school campus consisting of an eight-mainstream classroom and two special education classrooms for Gaelscoil Bhun Crannach, two post primary schools (Crana College and Coláiste Eoghain) to accommodate a long-term projected enrolment of 800 pupils and also provide a 4 classroom SEN base for each school.  

The project is currently at Stage 2b 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, DLETB 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 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.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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190. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she is aware that the size of the available land on a site for the new three school campus in a location (details supplied) is likely to be reduced in size in order to facilitate required roads infrastructure; and if adjacent lands, identified by the school, can be purchased in order to provide adequate school space, including playing fields. [54379/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The development of the shared education campus at the site referred to by the deputy consists of an 8-classroom primary school with accommodation for pupils with special educational needs, as well as a new school building to cater for two post-primary schools to accommodate approximately 800 pupils, also with accommodation for students with special educational needs.

Significant PE facilities for the schools concerned are being constructed as part of this campus development. At post-primary level, these include:

• PE Hall, which includes Fitness Suite, Changing Suites, Showers and Equipment Stores, a total of 1,048m²
• 5 Hard Play Courts with a total area of 3,060m²
• 4 Secure Soft Play Areas, 200m² in total

• General Purpose Hall of 195m² plus associated areas
• Ballcourts with a total area of 585m²
• Junior Play Area of 200m ²
• 2 Secure Soft Play Areas, which are 100m ²in total
• Sensory Garden, which is another 100m ²

Furthermore, as per any new school building, where the site area and building configuration permits, an area should be reserved suitable for use as a practice playing field. The Department notes that there are various community, recreation and sports facilities in relative proximity to the campus site and generally shared use of such facilities by schools and community groups is encouraged by this Department. Our technical guidance for post primary schools makes provision for a pitch only where it can be accommodated on the site. We do not acquire land specifically for the provision of pitches.

The Department’s priority at present is the provision of school places to meet the needs of children and young people at primary and post primary level, including children and young people with special educational needs. The Department considers that it may be the case that the patron of the 2 post-primary schools may wish to engage with the local county council over their plans for this land beside the campus and that it could be developed by the council and is an opportunity for the council to develop sporting facilities for use by the community.

The project is currently at Stage 2b 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.