Carol Nolan (Offaly, Independent)
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445. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the delivery of a new school building for a school (details supplied) in County Offaly; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63038/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The project referred to by the Deputy has been devolved for delivery to the Laois Offaly Education Training Board (LOETB).

The project is currently at Stage 2A of the architectural design process. In Quarter 2 2025, a Stage 2A report was submitted to the Department for review and is undergoing an intensive review from both a technical and cost perspective in accordance with the requirements of the Public Spending Code.

LOETB have proposed an option to acquire an alternative site for this project. This proposal has been reviewed by the Department and following further engagement LOETB are now finalising cost comparisons on the two sites.

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.

Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein)
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446. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason for the delay in the building works for a new ASD classroom (details supplied); if she will engage as a matter of urgency with the school and her Department to ensure the building works are completed as quickly as possible; the provision being made to ensure the children who were due to be in the ASD class in September 2025 are receiving an appropriate education; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63079/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The school to which the Deputy refers to was granted capital funding for the provision of two Special Educational Needs Classrooms under the Department’s SEN Reconfiguration and Modular Accommodation programme.

The programme involves the use of Project Management supports which is designed to enable the accommodation to be provided as quickly as possible and help ease the administrative workload for school authorities in relation to the management and delivery of projects.

Rogerson Reddan (RR) has been appointed from the Department’s Framework, to design and tender the project at the school in question. This is a collaborative process between the Project Manager, School Authority and the Department. Works have commenced on site and is earmarked for completion in early Q2 2026.

The Department is fully aware of the urgency in respect of this accommodation and will be working closely with the Project Managers and School Authority to keep it updated on overall project delivery and timelines