Naoise Ó Cearúil (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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528. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she has engaged with Kildare County Council in relation to the lack of signage and road safety markings at a school site (details supplied) which stem from the building’s unauthorised status due to a lapsed planning retention; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [61630/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The issue of road safety measures outside the vested site areas of schools on public roads, such as road crossings, road signage, traffic calming measures and such other issues is a matter for the relevant Local Authority. Local Authorities have the power to decide on road safety measures outside schools in common with other public amenities and to ensure that measures are in place to protect the safety of local children. My Department has no statutory function in this matter.

The issue of the lapsed planning of the temporary accommodation for the school referred to by the deputy is currently being addressed with a consultant working on this process at present.

The permanent new school building for the school referred to is part of a 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. Stage 2a (the 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 the county council as part of the Stage 2b process. The Department is 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.

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 two-year rolling programme.

All 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 this school.