Louis O'Hara (Galway East, Sinn Fein)
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53. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills for an update on a school building project (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [59134/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I am pleased to inform the Deputy that the Additional School Accommodation project referred to has been devolved for delivery to the school authority. A design team has been appointed to progress the project through the necessary architectural stages of design, statutory approvals, procurement and construction.

This project is approved for 3 Special Educational Needs classrooms , 7 Special Education Tuition rooms, 19 general classrooms, 1 art room, 1 home economics room, 1 graphics room, 3 science labs and 2 prep areas, 1 construction room and prep area, 1 engineering room and prep area, 3 project stores, 2 meeting rooms, 1 Deputy Principal office,1 staff room and 1 GP/Dining area.

The project is currently at Stage 2B of the architectural planning design process. My Department are currently awaiting submission by the school authority of the Stage 2B report, which allows for detailed design/planning, obtaining the necessary statutory permissions and the preparation of tender documents. All projects, including this one, will undergo the necessary due diligence outlined in the Public Infrastructure Guidelines. Once this is submitted and reviewed, my department will contact the school authority in relation to the next steps.

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 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. It is planned that circa 80 school building projects will progress to construction across 2026 and 2027 as part of a 2-year rolling programme.

All Government Departments are expected to publish their sectoral NDP Implementation Plans in November. My Department’s 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.