Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Fein)
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846. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide an update on the development of a new school site (details supplied); when the new schools will be operational; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [59554/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The major building project for the schools referred to by the Deputy will deliver a new pupil post primary school with accommodation and 6 classrooms for children with special educational needs and a new 8 classroom primary school with accommodation and 2 classrooms for children with special educational needs at Ballincollig, which will be delivered as part of a shared educational campus.

The project will be delivered under my Department's ADAPT Programme which uses a professional external Programme Manager to co-ordinate and drive the Integrated Project Team to achieve the best possible timeframe for the project through the stages of Architectural Planning, to Tender and Construction.

This ADAPT 4 Programme – Programme Innovate will be led by Integrated Project Teams (IPT’s), consisting of highly skilled and experienced design professionals, architects, engineers, project managers, quantity surveyors and various other consultants to deliver the projects.

My Department, in conjunction with Cork City County Council, carried out an extensive and protracted site identification and assessment exercise resulting in the identification of the current site at Lisheens, Ballincollig as the preferred and most suitable site location for the school campus. Unfortunately these lands could not be acquired by negotiation and Cork City Council invoked their powers of compulsory purchase to acquire these lands on my behalf. Cork City Council took possession of this site in May 2024.

It is not possible to provide a timeframe for the progression of the project to tender and construction stages until such time as the necessary statutory approvals have been secured.

Ryan O'Meara (Tipperary North, Fianna Fail)
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847. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of an application (details supplied) by a primary school for additional school accommodation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [59560/25]

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 (ASA) Scheme for an additional mainstream classroom.

The purpose of my department’s 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 by available accommodation at other schools in the area.

Since 2020, my department has invested over €6 billion in our schools throughout the country under the National Development Plan, involving the completion of over 1,300 school building projects. In addition, repurposing and optimisation of existing accommodation capacity across the school estate has been a key enabler of timely, local provision of special class capacity in a way that supports best practice in inclusion and integration. Circa 80% of new special classes in 2025/26 are being facilitated in repurposed classroom accommodation.

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 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.

The application from the school in question is being considered in this context and we are working to get a decision communicated to the school as soon as possible.