John Connolly (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

457. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills for an update on the development of a new building for a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [65008/25]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The project to which the Deputy refers has been devolved for delivery to Galway and Roscommon Education and Training Board (GRETB).

The Brief is for 8 Mainstream classrooms and 2 Special Educational Needs classrooms.

The project is at Stage 2b of the architectural planning design process. This allows for detailed design and planning, obtaining the necessary statutory permissions and the preparation of tender documents.

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

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.

My department is now preparing an NDP implementation plan which is due for publication in November. This 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 current status of all projects is listed on a county-by-county basis at www.gov.ie and this is updated on a regular basis to reflect project progress through the various stages of capital appraisal, site acquisition, design, tender and construction.