Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 22 January 2026
374. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Education and Youth if the provision of additional accommodation at a school (details supplied) will be progressed without further delay in view of the recent establishment of additional classes and no additional accommodation provided to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5391/26]
View answerI can confirm to the Deputy that my department is in receipt of an application for capital funding under the Additional School Accommodation (ASA) from the school in question.
Since 2020 my department has invested over €6 billion in our schools throughout the country under the National Development Plan, involving the completion of almost 1,400 school building projects. In addition, repurposing and optimisation of existing accommodation capacity across the school estate has been a key enabler of timely, local provision of special class capacity in a way that supports best practice in inclusion and integration. Circa 80% of new special classes in 2025/26 are being facilitated in repurposed classroom accommodation.
Government support for this investment, including by way of supplementary capital funding, has delivered real benefits for school communities. Supplementary capital funding of €210 million approved by Government has brought the total capital allocation for 2025 for my department to €1.6 billion.
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.
The NDP Implementation Plan for the Education and Youth sector and the first tranche of projects to progress to construction will be published by my department shortly. 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.
The school’s application is still under consideration and as soon as a decision has been reached, the school will be contacted directly by my department.
