Carol Nolan (Offaly, Independent)
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416. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to assist in the urgent case of a school (details supplied) waiting for project works to begin that were approved in 2018; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54649/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The school referred to by the Deputy was approved to enter the departments pipeline of school buildings for a project to provide a 3 classroom SEN Base.The project was devolved to the school for delivery.

Approval to proceed to Stage 2b (developed design) was granted in April 2024. In June 2025, the Design Team advised they were finalising design elements and preparing tender documentation. The Department is currently awaiting the Stage 2b pre-tender report.

Once received, the report will undergo a detailed technical and cost review in line with the Public Spending Code. All projects, including this one, are subject to the due diligence requirements of the Public Infrastructure Guidelines. Managing timing, scope, and cost is crucial to staying within budgetary limits for the overall program.

Since 2020, the Department of Education and Youth 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 the 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.

The 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.

Department officials have actively engaged with the Design Team throughout and will continue to engage with the school authority to provide practical advice and assistance on this very important project.