Jen Cummins (Dublin South Central, Social Democrats)
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150. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason the new build on a school (details supplied) has not progressed; the time frame for this build; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17669/26]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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The Major building project referred to by the Deputy will deliver a 1,000 pupil Post Primary School and accommodation, including 6 classrooms for children with special educational needs at Le Fanu Road, Ballyfermot.

This project is currently planned to be delivered as part of Phase 2 of my Department's ADAPT 4 Programme - Programme Innovate.

This programme uses a professional external Programme Manager to co-ordinate and drive the Integrated Project Team to achieve the best possible timeframe for the project through the stages of Architectural Planning, to Tender and Construction.

This programme will be led by (IPT's) Integrated Project Teams consisting of highly skilled and experienced design professionals, architects, engineers, project managers, quantity surveyors and various other consultants to deliver the projects.

The Project Manager was appointed in Q3 2023 and is in the process of preparing documentation for the tender process for the appointment of IPTs for the Phase 2 bundle of projects, which includes this project.

As the Deputy will be aware, I have recently published the €7.55 billion NDP Sectoral Investment Plan for the Education and Youth Sectors for the period 2026 to 2030. This NDP Sectoral Plan involves a very strong emphasis on maximising existing capacity and prioritisation of school building projects to meet the most urgent needs. In this regard there will be a strong special education dimension to project rollout.

Of the total €7.55 billion investment it is envisaged that circa. €5 billion will be used for project rollout to support the delivery and modernisation of school buildings across the Large Scale, Additional Accommodation, Modular, and Annual September Accommodation Needs programmes. Over the course of 2026 and 2027 there will be construction work at circa. 10% of the school estate. These projects will, when completed, provide circa 57,000 additional and modernised school places with a strong SEN focus in all projects.

My department will continue to build on the progress made over recent years with the continued rollout of projects on a prioritised basis to meet the most urgent needs in terms of provision of additional capacity and modernisation of existing facilities. In this regard, I have also published a list of the 105 school building projects in the first tranche to proceed to construction or tender over 2026 and 2027.

The first tranche of 105 school building projects includes 80 large scale and Additional School Accommodation scheme projects. These projects were prioritised with a strong focus on maximising existing capacity and prioritising project rollout to meet the most urgent needs particularly to support special education needs provision.

Firstly, to facilitate the 45 projects that are currently already at tender stage (Stage 3) so that they can progress to construction as smoothly as possible over the course of 2026 and 2027. Secondly, to facilitate 35 projects that currently have planning permission and are at pre-tender stage (Stage 2b) and have been prioritised to meet urgent requirements from a special needs perspective or to provide additional capacity to cater for demographics or to address very significant condition issues at the schools.

I recognise that there are schools with important building projects that are not included in the first tranche of prioritised projects.

As part of planning ahead for the next tranche of projects to progress to tender, the department-led prioritisation process will continue over the course of 2026 and 2027 to assess and evaluate the progression of individual projects through the design pipeline having regard to the continual need to maximise existing capacity and determine the prioritised needs going forward. This process will involve engagement with key stakeholders and individual schools and will ultimately inform the next tranches of programme rollout to tender. The department-led Energy and Condition Survey of the school estate, which will be finalised later in 2026, will provide an additional evidence base for assessing priorities.

Based on this ongoing prioritisation process some projects may be added to the list over the course of 2026 and 2027 having regard to their prioritisation and urgency of need and taking account also of the ongoing ability to progress them to tender and construction within the parameters of overall funding. Where appropriate, the department will also assess opportunities to undertake advance enabling works for the most urgent and complex projects to facilitate a smooth progression to construction in 2028 and beyond.

Any interim accommodation requirements will continue to be assessed and considered by my department on a case-by-case basis to determine the prioritised needs and approach for addressing same.

The accommodation needs at the school referred to by the Deputy will be considered as part of the ongoing overall department-led prioritisation process, in consultation with the school’s patron and school authorities.

My Department will continue to keep the school and it’s patron body updated as the project progresses.