Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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629. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to provide a date for a stage 2a meeting with a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [57746/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The joint major building project for the schools referred to by the deputy are currently at Stage 2(a) of Architectural Planning - Developed Design - which is a crucial element of the architectural planning process as it is at this stage that the design is developed to a stage where it can be fully cost planned and prepared to lodge for statutory approvals.

My Department are currently awaiting necessary outstanding information from the Design Team to complete the Stage 2a Addendum Report. Upon receipt of the complete revised report Department officials will be in a position to carry out a full review.

At the present time my Department cannot provide a date for the Stage 2a Stakeholders meeting until such time as all outstanding information is received and reviewed.

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.