John Connolly (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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459. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the development and enhancement works at a school (details supplied) in Galway city; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [65021/25]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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The major building project referred to by the Deputy will be delivered via my Departments ADAPT Programme.

ADAPT is an acronym for "Accelerated Delivery of Architectural Planning and Tendering". The ADAPT Programme uses a professional external Project Manager to co-ordinate and drive the Design Team to achieve the best possible timeframe during the stages of architectural planning.

The brief for this major project is the development of a 1,000 pupil Post Primary School with 4 classroom SEN base at Coláiste Muire Máthair, St. Mary’s Road, Shantalla, Galway including the refurbishment of existing school building (protected structure), internal remodelling of existing building extensions and the construction of a new build extension including all associated site works.

The project is currently at Stage 1 - Preliminary Design (assessment of site and location suitability and initial sketch scheme).

As part of the Stage 1 process the Design Team submit a Stage 1 Report to my Department. A preferred design option, including the scope and extent of works to be carried out form part of this report.

The Stage 1 Report is currently with my Department for review and upon completion of that due diligence review the Stage 1 stakeholders meeting will be scheduled.

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.

John Connolly (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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460. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills for an update on the development works at a school (details supplied) in Galway city; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [65022/25]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I can confirm to the Deputy, that my department is in receipt of an application under the Additional School Accommodation (ASA) scheme for additional school accommodation from the school in question.

The purpose of my department’s Additional School Accommodation (ASA) scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream classroom accommodation and accommodation for pupils with special education needs is available to cater for pupils enrolled each year, where the need cannot be met by the school’s existing accommodation or at other schools in the area.

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 1,300 school building projects. In addition, repurposing and optimisation of existing accommodation capacity across the school estate has been a key enabler of timely, local provision of special class capacity in a way that supports best practice in inclusion and integration. Circa 80% of new special classes in 2025/26 are being facilitated in repurposed classroom accommodation.

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.

The application from the school in question will be considered as part of this process and the school authority will be notified of the decision directly.