Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 December 2025
446. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Education and Youth the position regarding the additional accommodation project application lodged by a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [73470/25]
View answerThe school referred to was approved to enter my Departments pipeline of school buildings for a project to provide four Mainstream classrooms and a two Classroom SEN base. The project has been devolved for delivery to the school authority.
Approval to Stage 2B (planning) of the architectural design process was granted to the school authority in Q4 2023. A Stage 2B report was received in Q4 2024 and is currently being reviewed from both a technical and cost perspective in accordance with the requirements of the Public Spending Code. All projects, including this one, will undergo the necessary due diligence outlined in the public Infrastructure Guidelines.
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 shortly 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.
