Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 5 February 2026
243. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Youth to publish the data sets that were used against the criteria her Department indicated were the determining factors for the selection of school construction projects as announced on 28 January 2026; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8982/26]
View answerAs 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.
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 the course of 2026 and 2027 there will be construction work at circa. 10% of the school estate. These projects will, when completed, provide circa 57,000 additional and modernised school places with a strong SEN focus in all projects.
My department will continue to build on the progress made over recent years with the continued rollout of projects on a prioritised basis to meet the most urgent needs in terms of provision of additional capacity and modernisation of existing facilities. In this regard, I have also published a list of the 105 school building projects in the first tranche to proceed to construction or tender over 2026 and 2027. This list includes 4 projects in County Wicklow and Wexford.
The first tranche of 105 projects covers the initial two-year period of NDP rollout. The next tranche of projects will be finalised and published afterwards (post 2027) following a stakeholder engagement process to identify the next most urgent priorities. This stakeholder engagement will be undertaken in 2026 and 2027 and will include an assessment of how well existing capacity is maximised and enrolment policies and processes are prioritising local special education provision and mainstream requirements. As part of this engagement any interim accommodation needs or required works will be explored. This engagement will also inform the next tranche of prioritised projects. The Department-led Energy and Condition Survey of the school estate, which will be finalised later in 2026, will provide an additional evidence base for assessing priorities.
The prioritisation of projects was focussed on facilitating the projects at Stage 3 to the construction stage as smoothly as possible over the course of 2026 and 2027. The prioritisation of projects at Stage 2b was focussed on those projects which had achieved a grant of planning permission and were, therefore, at an appropriate stage of readiness for progression to tender. Within that cohort of Stage 2b projects, projects at special schools were afforded a top priority. For other schools, a multi-faceted qualitative assessment of relative priority took account of schools that did not have permanent accommodation and had ongoing demographic pressures, special education capacity being provided, demographic pressures relative to capacity at that school and across the area, the extent to which schools are prioritising local school place needs, any significant condition issues at the school, any interim accommodation constraints, and the duration of the project to date.
The 105 prioritised projects consist of 80 large-scale and ASA (additional school accommodation) projects along with 25 projects to be delivered under the Modular Accommodation Programme.
The 80 large-scale and ASA projects are estimated to cost just under €1.6bn.
Of the 80 projects,
• 45 projects that are already at tender stage (Stage 3)
• 35 projects that have planning permission and are at pre-tender stage (Stage 2b).
Regarding the 45 projects that are currently already at tender stage (Stage 3), these projects are being progressed on a rolling basis to ensure that the Department of Education continues to operate within NDP funding parameters. These projects include 19 new school buildings of which the majority are either special schools or primary/post-primary schools that are currently operating from interim accommodation and have an urgent need for permanent accommodation.
Regarding the 35 projects that currently have planning permission and are at pre-tender stage (Stage 2b), these have been prioritised to meet urgent requirements from a special needs perspective or to provide additional capacity to cater for demographics or to address very significant condition issues at the schools. These projects include new school buildings for 12 schools – of which the majority of these schools are either special schools or primary/post-primary schools that currently are operating from interim accommodation and have an urgent need for permanent accommodation. It is envisaged that these projects will be progressed to tender over the course of 2026 and 2027 and within the context of NDP funding parameters.
The 25 modular projects primarily relate to additional SEN capacity for the 2026/27 school year. The number of modular projects is set to increase as further NCSE sanctions are issued. With over 260 SEN classes already approved for 2026/2027, additional projects will be prioritised to facilitate their opening through the Modular and SEN repurposing programmes.
There are many facets to the rollout of the Department’s capital programme. For example across County Wexford, there are currently 7 projects under construction and this summer, 8 schools are approved to undergo works as part of the Summer Works Scheme/Climate Action Scheme. In addition, in early January a further 5 schools in County Wexford were approved for inclusion in an expansion of the Department’s EU RePower retrofit programme which will facilitate a full retrofit of their existing school buildings.
