Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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692. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated timeline for works to commence on a new school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [58216/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The project to which the Deputy refers has been devolved for delivery to the Laois Offaly Education and Training Board (LOETB). This project was approved as a large-scale capital project for the provision of a 1,000 pupil post primary school with six Special Education classrooms.

The project is currently at Stage 2B of the architectural design process. This allows for detailed design and planning, obtaining the necessary statutory permissions and the preparation of tender documents. A planning permission application has been submitted. LOETB will continue to engage directly with the school authorities to keep them fully informed of progress on this project.

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.