Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 November 2025
767. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Education and Youth for an update on an SEN repurposing project being delivered under the School Capital Programme (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [58741/25]
View answerThe school referred to was approved to enter the Department’s pipeline of school buildings under the Additional School Accommodation Scheme for repurposing works providing 1 Special Education Needs classroom.
The project is devolved to the school authority for delivery. The project is at Stage 1 of the architectural design process with a consultant due to be appointed shortly.
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 in November. 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.
