Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 December 2025
183. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Education and Youth to provide an update and timeframe on an educational campus (details supplied) and the capital programmes on site; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [70807/25]
View answerThe campus building project referred to by the Deputy is being delivered as part of my Department's ADAPT Programme which 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 ADAPT 4 Programme – Programme Innovate will be led by Integrated Project Teams (IPT’s), consisting of highly skilled and experienced design professionals, architects, engineers, project managers, quantity surveyors and various other consultants to deliver the projects.
This major building project will deliver a shared educational campus which will provide 2 new 1,000 pupil post primary schools with 6 classrooms for children with special education needs, a new 8 classroom primary school with accommodation including 2 classrooms for children with special education needs, and a new 20 classroom special school at the Swords Road campus in Whitehall.
This project is at an early stage of architectural planning - stage 1 - where the IPT carry out site surveys and initial sketch schemes are prepared. The stage 1 report is anticipated to be received by my Department in late Quarter 4 of 2025, with a meeting of stakeholders to be arranged upon receipt and review of the report.
It is not possible to provide a timeframe for the progression of the project to tender and construction stages until such time as the necessary statutory approvals have been secured.
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.
All Government departments are expected to publish their sectoral NDP Implementation Plans shortly. The 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.
My Department will keep the schools and patron bodies informed of the progression of this project.
