Naoise Ó Cearúil (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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525. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the building project for a school; when the project is expected to go to tender; when construction is scheduled to commence; when the building is expected to be ready for occupancy (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [61627/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Project referred to by the Deputy is part of the Celbridge Campus project that has been devolved for delivery to the National Development Finance Agency (NDFA) as part of a bundled school building programme.

The project is currently at Stage 2a of the architectural design process. Department approval to move to this stage was issued in April 2025. Stage 2a (developed design stage) involves the Design Team developing the designs, fully cost planning the campus project and preparing the necessary documentation to facilitate the lodging for statutory approval to Kildare County Council as part of the Stage 2b process. The department are currently awaiting the submission of the Stage 2a report.

The length of time a project takes to deliver depends on several factors, including scale and complexity and is subject to the time it takes to progress through the various design stages and the statutory approval process.

While at this early stage, it is not possible to provide a timeline for the completion of the project. The NDFA will continue to engage directly with the school authorities to keep them fully informed of progress.

My department is committed to ensuring appropriate school accommodation is available for all children in the Celbridge area and will in the wider context outlined, ensure that this project - as for all projects on our school building programme - is subject to the due diligence required under the public Infrastructure Guidelines.

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 1,400 school building projects. 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. This will be the context for assessing all project rollout for the 2026 to 2030 period including in relation to St Patricks Celbridge.