Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 15 January 2026
351. Deputy Ann Graves asked the Minister for Education and Youth the plans for new primary schools for Donabate tied to ADAPT 4 (Phase 2) with delivery projected between 2026-2030; if not, the reason; whether secondary schools are planned for Donabate; and if her Department plans to deliver a permanent building for the Gaelscoil in Donabate. [3228/26]
View answerThere is a proposed campus project to provide for 2 permanent primary schools at a site in Corbalis, Donabate. This proposed development is for a new permanent school for the school referred to by the Deputy - Gaelscoil na Mara Donabate - which will provide a new 16-classroom primary school and 4 classes for pupils with special educational needs and includes for a TBC (to be confirmed) new 8-classroom primary school (with an option to expand to 16-classrooms for this TBC primary school also).
This project is planned to be delivered as part of Phase 2 of my Department's ADAPT 4 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 programme is being led by Integrated Project Teams consisting of highly skilled and experienced design professionals, architects, engineers, project managers, quantity surveyors and various other consultants to deliver the projects.
The Project Manager was appointed in Q3 2023 and is in the process of preparing documentation for the tender process for the appointment of IPTs for the Phase 2 bundle of projects.
There is post primary school capacity available in the existing Donabate Community College. There are currently no plans to develop a second post primary school in Donabate.
In July 2025, 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. 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.
The Department's National Development Plan (NDP) Implementation 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 sectoral investment plan will optimise outputs from the Department's 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.
The Department will continue to liaise with the school’s patron body in relation to the school’s interim accommodation needs pending delivery of the permanent school building and provide updates on progress and next steps.
