Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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470. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when refurbishment works at a school (details supplied) will be completed. [65176/25]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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The major building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is currently at Stage 4-Construction.

The Design Team for the project issued the Letter of Acceptance to the successful contractor on the 6th June 2025.

The project was due to commence on site in July 2025, however, following a late planning condition issued by the Local Authority-a Construction Environmental Management Plan (CEMP) was requested and subsequently submitted by the Design Team.

Construction will commence once the Local Authority have approved the CEMP.

In the interim, the contractors are progressing with preliminary site activities such as surveys and compound boundary marking.

The project has an estimated contract duration of 19 months.

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.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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471. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when refurbishment works at a school (details supplied) will be completed. [65177/25]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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The major building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is currently at Stage 4-Construction.

The project comprises of the phased demolition of the existing school and the phased construction of a new two storey school with associated site works to provide accommodation for a new 12-classroom school with 3 classrooms for pupils with Special Educational Needs. The development includes a new carpark, ballcourts, landscaping and some roadworks.

The Design Team for the project issued the Letter of Acceptance to the successful contractor on the 28th June 2024. The project has an estimated contract duration of 22 months.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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472. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when refurbishment works at a school (details supplied) will be completed. [65178/25]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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The major building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is currently at Stage 4-Construction.

The Design Team for the project issued the Letter of Acceptance to the successful contractor on the 28th August 2025. My Department is currently reviewing a Value Engineering Report submitted by the contractor and work has commenced onsite. The project has an estimated contract duration of 24 months.

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.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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473. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when refurbishment works at a school (details supplied) will be completed. [65179/25]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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The school project to which the Deputy refers, has been devolved to the National Development Finance Agency (NDFA) for delivery as part of a programme of school building projects.

The brief for this project is to provide a new build 24-classroom primary school with a 2-class SEN base.

The project commenced on site in October 2023. Phase 2b of the works reached substantial completion in March 2025. This saw the completion of 20 classrooms in the main school building.

Phase 2c of the works will see the delivery of the remaining classrooms plus GP Hall, external works and removal of all temporary accommodation. The project has a current expected completion date of Q1 2026.

The NDFA are engaging directly with the school authority to keep it fully informed of all progress.

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.