Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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285. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the current status of the new school building projects for a school (details supplied), which were granted planning permission in May 2025; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [68000/25]

Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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287. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when the tendering process for contractors for the new school buildings in Rush will commence; and if the projects have progressed to the design and procurement stage; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [68002/25]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 285 and 287 together.

The school project to which the Deputy refers is a campus project and is devolved for delivery to CEIST.

The project is currently at Stage 2b (post planning process) of the architectural process which allows for detailed design and planning, obtaining the necessary statutory permissions and the preparation of tender documents.

CEIST, as the delivery body will continue to engage directly with the school community to keep it fully informed of progress.

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 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.