Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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427. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when her Department will grant full approval to a school (details supplied). [64729/25]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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The school referred to was approved to enter the Department’s pipeline of school buildings under the 2022 Additional School Accommodation Scheme for a project providing a 2 classroom SEN base. The brief was later reassessed by the Department and increased to provide an extra 2 SET in Q1 2025. This project is devolved to the school authority for delivery.

I can confirm that the Department is awaiting a revised Stage 1 (design) report incorporating the increased brief. Once received, this will be evaluated 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.

The Department’s NDP is due to be published soon and the pending review of this school building project will be considered as part of the implementation plan.