Peter Cleere (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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790. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the progress of a building project for a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [58911/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I can confirm to the Deputy, that the school in question has submitted an application for capital funding, under my Department's Additional School Accommodation Scheme for additional accommodation.

The purpose of my Department’s Additional School Accommodation (or ASA) scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream classroom accommodation and accommodation for pupils with special education needs is available to cater for pupils enrolled each year, where the need cannot be met by the school’s existing accommodation or at other schools in the area.

My department assigned a Project Manager to complete a viability report for this project and this report indicates restrictions on the site. Furthermore, technical staff from my department also visited the school to assess the school’s situation. I wish to note that this school’s situation is a very complex one and needs further consideration. We will endeavour to get back to the school as soon as possible.

Peter Cleere (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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791. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the progress of a building project for a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [58912/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The school to which the Deputy refers was approved to enter my Departments pipeline of school building projects to provide the following accommodation: 2 classroom Special Education Need (SEN) base and central activities room, 4 Special Education Tuition (SET) rooms, 2 general classrooms, 1 graphics room, 1 home economics room, 2 science labs and prep area, 1 construction room and prep area, and 1 GP dining area plus ancillary.

This project has been devolved for delivery to the Kilkenny Carlow Education and Training Board (KCETB). I can confirm that this project is currently at Stage 2A (detailed design) and a Stage 2A report has been submitted by KCETB and is currently being reviewed from both a technical and cost perspective in accordance with the requirements of the Public Spending Code.

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.