Charles Ward (Donegal, 100% Redress Party)
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387. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the current status of the emergency funding application submitted by a school (details supplied), regarding structural issues arising from defective concrete; if her Department has completed or commenced an assessment of the extent of the defects; the interim measures being put in place to ensure the safety of pupils and staff; and if she will outline the expected timelines for decision, approval, and commencement of any approved works. [56601/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy may aware my Department engaged with the schools affected by mica in June 2025 outlining that my Department is adopting a programme approach to the issue and will be assessing the appropriate pathway for all affected schools. In this regard officials from my Department still plan to begin conducting site visits to the affected schools in Q4 2025 and will continue to engage with the affected schools in this regard.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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388. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide an urgent update on a school buildings project (details supplied). [56626/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Project referred to by the Deputy was approved to enter the department’s pipeline of school buildings to provide 2 Special education tuition room and a 2 classroom special education base under the Additional School Accommodation (ASA) Scheme. The project is devolved to the school authority for delivery.

The Stage 2b (developed design) report is currently under review from both a technical and cost perspective in accordance with the requirements of the Public Spending Code. All projects, including this one, are subject to the required due diligence as specified in the department’s infrastructure guidelines. Managing timing, scope, and cost is essential to maintaining budgetary control across the programme.

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.