I propose to take Questions Nos. 557 and 558 together.
As the Deputy will be aware, I have recently published the €7.55 billion NDP Sectoral Investment Plan for the Education and Youth Sectors for the period 2026 to 2030. This NDP Sectoral Plan involves a very strong emphasis on maximising existing capacity and prioritisation of school building projects to meet the most urgent needs. In this regard there will be a strong special education dimension to project rollout. I also published the accompanying list of the 105 projects which provides details of location, school type, school building programme delivering the project along with the project type. Both of these documents and a county by county breakdown of funding and projects can be found on the department’s website www.gov.ie
With regards to the 27,000 additional and modernised pupil places being provide by these 105 projects, in the region of 2,270 relate to additional and modernised SEN pupil places. Additionally, over 260 SEN classes have been sanctioned to date for the 2026/2027 school year. As a result, further projects will be prioritised to support the opening of these classrooms through the Modular and SEN repurposing programmes.
Of the total €7.55 billion investment it is envisaged that circa. €5 billion will be used for project rollout to support the delivery and modernisation of school buildings across the Large Scale, Additional Accommodation, Modular, and Annual September Accommodation Needs programmes.
Over €2 billion will used to support the operation of the existing school estate through clarity and certainty on Minor Works and ICT grants, rollout of the Climate Action Summer Works Scheme, delivery of climate initiatives, continued support for school maintenance through our emergency and summer works schemes and facilitating annual payments for existing schools built and operated under Public Private Partnerships.
The remaining €300 million, which represents just under 4% of the total allocation, will operate as contingency funding. The contingency fund is allocated over a 5-year period to provide flexibility for a variety of potential issues including unforeseen site conditions, planning restrictions, or minor changes in project briefs. It also assists in safeguarding the programme against inflation and market fluctuations.
