John Connolly (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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315. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of new school development projects in County Galway currently in Stage 2B of the development process; the date each project entered stage 2B, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [67087/25]

John Connolly (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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316. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of new school development projects in County Galway currently in stage 3 of the development process; the date each project entered stage 3, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [67088/25]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 315 and 316 together.

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 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. 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 shortly. 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.

Project delivery is managed as part of an overall capital programme, in line with the Government's Infrastructure Guidelines and taking account of budgetary parameters. Delays can occur in large capital programmes for many reasons, including factors beyond my department’s control, such as site acquisition and statutory permissions. These are managed as effectively as possible, prioritising the most urgent projects where capacity is already fully utilised, and deploying modular accommodation where near-term additional space is needed.

It should be noted that some projects may remain at a particular stage longer than anticipated due to a range of factors, including planning-related issues, challenges within the design process, and complex site conditions.

The table below lists the new school building projects in County Galway at stage 2b and stage 3.