Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 December 2025
173. Deputy Tony McCormack asked the Minister for Education and Youth for an update on the progress of the building application for a school (details supplied); and the expected timeline for advancement of the project; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [70427/25]
View answerThe school referred by the Deputy has been approved to enter the Department's pipeline for school building projects, to provide four mainstream classrooms, one construction room and a four classroom Special Educational Needs (SEN) base under the Additional School Accommodation (ASA) Scheme. The project is devolved for delivery to the school authority.
The project received my departments approval to Stage 2a (detailed design) of the architectural planning design process in May 2025. This stage must include the development of the design along with an accurate cost plan which best meets the design as agreed at Stage 1. It is now within the remit of the school to progress this project.
The length of time a project takes to deliver depends on several factors, including scale and complexity and is subject to the time it takes to progress through the various design stages, and the statutory approval process.
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.
Government departments are currently in the process of publishing their sectoral NDP Implementation Plans. The sectoral plan for the Education and Youth sector will be published next week and the first tranche of projects to progress to construction will be published in January. This NDP Implementation 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.
