Maeve O'Connell
Question:392. Deputy Maeve O'Connell asked the Minister for Education and Youth to provide an update on a new school building project (details supplied). [70632/25]
View answerThursday, 11 December 2025
Questions (392)
Written answers
The major project referred to by the Deputy is being delivered under my Departments ADAPT Programme.
ADAPT is an acronym for "Accelerated Delivery of Architectural Planning and Tendering".
The ADAPT Programme uses a professional external Project Manager to co-ordinate and drive the Design Team to achieve the best possible timeframe during the stages of architectural planning.
The brief for this project is to deliver a new permanent 8 classroom Primary School with 2 classes for pupils with Special Educational Needs, at the schools current location in Mount Merrion.
The major project is currently at Stage 2(a) of Architectural Planning.
Stage 2(a) – Developed Design - is a crucial element of the architectural planning process as it is at this stage that the design is developed to a stage where it can be fully cost planned and prepared to lodge for statutory approvals.
The Design Team recently submitted a Stage 2a Report and my Department officials are currently carrying out their review of this report.
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.