Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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219. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if approval will be granted for the required four modular classrooms and a modular technology engineering room for a school (details supplied) to allow it to cater for current students and to cater for the increasing enrolment in September 2026; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [67417/25]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I am happy to advise that in 2022, the school referred to by the Deputy was approved for a traditional build project to provide 2x Mainstream classrooms, 1x Music room, 1x Graphics room, 1x Art room, 1x Science lab and prep area, 1x Engineering room and prep area, 2x Project stores, 1x Home Economics room and 3x Special education classrooms which is currently at stage 2A.

In 2024, the school was also provided with capital funding to provide an interim Home economics room and conversion of space to provide female toilets due to a change to co-education status.

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 the 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.

The school's application for additional accommodation is currently being considered as part of the prioritisation process and the school will be advised directly once this process is completed and a decision has been made.