Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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170. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills for an update on the major building project at a school (details supplied); the reason for the delay; when progress can be expected; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [66368/25]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I am pleased to inform the Deputy that the Additional School Accommodation project referred to has been devolved for delivery to the school authority. A design team has been appointed to progress the project through the necessary architectural stages of design, statutory approvals, procurement and construction.

This project is approved for three Special Educational Needs classrooms , seven Special Education Tuition rooms, nineteen general classrooms, one art room, one home economics room, one graphics room, three science labs and two prep areas, one construction room and prep area, one engineering room and prep area, three project stores, two meeting rooms, one Deputy Principal office, one staff room and one GP/Dining area.

The project is currently at Stage 2B of the architectural planning design process. My Department are currently awaiting submission by the school authority of the Stage 2B report, which allows for detailed design/planning, obtaining the necessary statutory permissions and the preparation of tender documents. All projects, including this one, will undergo the necessary due diligence outlined in the Public Infrastructure Guidelines.

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. 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 roll-out 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 roll-out 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 later 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.