Eoin Hayes (Dublin Bay South, Social Democrats)
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177. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason an official from her Department has not undertaken a site visit of a school (details supplied) following their request; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [55984/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The project was approved to enter the department’s pipeline of school buildings to provide a four Classroom Special Educational Needs (SEN) base, a general-purpose room and Ancillary under the department ‘s Additional School Accommodation (ASA) Scheme. The project is a joint project between the Boys & Girls National schools.

Approval to proceed to Stage 2b (developed design) was granted in March 2024, and planning permission was confirmed by the design team in July 2025. The Department now awaits the post-planning Stage 2b report, which will be reviewed from both technical and cost perspectives in line with the Public Spending Code. All projects, including this one, will undergo the necessary due diligence outlined in the Public Infrastructure Guidelines. Managing timing, scope, and cost is crucial to staying within budgetary limits for the overall program

In February 2025, the school was advised to apply to the Emergency Works Scheme for any health and safety concerns, as refurbishment of the existing building is outside the scope of the ASA project. The Department has also engaged with the design team regarding heating infrastructure, and a recent request concerning pipework is currently under technical review. The Department will respond to the school authority once this review is complete.

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 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. This will be the context for assessing all project rollout for the 2026 to 2030 period including in relation to this school.