Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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386. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills whether the sanctioned ASA extension for a school (details supplied) falls within the capital expenditure allocation referenced in the Department of Education and Youth Budget 2026 Document; whether it falls within the 260 schools or 80 school buildings referenced in that document; if not, when specifically it is expected that the extension at the school will progress to construction; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [56594/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The school to which the Deputy refers was approved to enter the Department’s pipeline of school buildings for a project to provide 1 General classroom, 1 Music room, 1 Textiles room, 1 Art room, 1 Graphics room, 2 Multimedia rooms, 1 Science lab, 1 Science Prep area, 2 Technology and shared Prep areas and a 3 Classroom SEN base under the Additional School Accommodation Scheme (ASA). This project was devolved to the school authority for delivery.

This project was approved to Stage 2a the detailed design stage of the architectural process in Quarter 3 2024. A stage 2A submission report was received in September 2025 and is currently being reviewed from both a technical and cost perspective in accordance with the requirements of 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.

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.

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