Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 February 2026
484. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Education and Youth the reason her Department have not responded to the project building team of a school (details supplied) since May 2025; and whether she is aware that their current lease expires in 2027. [14168/26]
View answerThe major building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is currently at Stage 2(a) of Architectural Planning – Developed Design, where the preferred agreed design option can be developed to a stage where the project is fully cost planned and the scheme can be prepared to lodge for statutory approvals with the local authority.
The major project is being delivered under the Department's ADAPT programme. The ADAPT programme uses a professional external Programme Manager to co-ordinate and drive the Design Team to achieve the best possible timeframe for the project through the design stages of architectural planning to Tender and Construction.
The brief for the school referred to by the Deputy is the development of a new 16 classroom Gaelscoil with additional classrooms for pupils with Special Educational needs, including the construction of a New School Building and all associated site works, on a green-field site adjacent to the current school building.
My department has reviewed the Stage 2(a) Submission from the Design Team. The Stage 2(a) Stakeholders meeting was held on the 24th of January 2025, with representatives from the School Authorities, Design Team, Project Manager and my department in attendance. The meeting concluded with a request for the Design Team to submit a Stage 2(a) Addendum report addressing issues raised by my department at the meeting.
My department has received the Stage 2(a) Addendum report. Upon review of the Stage 2(a) Addendum report, my department will advise all Stakeholders regarding the further progression of the project.
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.
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 12 projects in County Cork.
These Projects are in addition to €767.68 million in capital funding for County Cork schools between 2020 and 2025. Over that period, a total of 157 schools have been upgraded either through provision of a new school building, a large-scale extension or provision of modular accommodation. There are also currently 20 school projects in County Cork under construction.
Another 12 projects will go to tender or construction in 2026 and 2027, and this summer, 35 schools are approved to undergo works as part of the Summer Works Scheme / Climate Action scheme. In addition, since 2020 a total of 332 special classes have been opened in Cork, 26 of which were sanctioned for September 2026.
The first tranche of 105 school building projects includes 80 large scale and Additional School Accommodation scheme projects. These projects were prioritised with a strong focus on maximising existing capacity and prioritising project rollout to meet the most urgent needs particularly to support special education needs provision.
Firstly, to facilitate the 45 projects that are currently already at tender stage (Stage 3) so that they can progress to construction as smoothly as possible over the course of 2026 and 2027. Secondly, to facilitate 35 projects that currently have planning permission and are at pre-tender stage (Stage 2b) and 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.
I recognise that there are schools with important building projects that are not included in the first tranche of prioritised projects.
As part of planning ahead for the next tranche of projects to progress to tender, the department-led prioritisation process will continue over the course of 2026 and 2027 to assess and evaluate the progression of individual projects through the design pipeline having regard to the continual need to maximise existing capacity and determine the prioritised needs going forward. This process will involve engagement with key stakeholders and individual schools and will ultimately inform the next tranches of programme rollout to tender. 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.
Based on this ongoing prioritisation process some projects may be added to the list over the course of 2026 and 2027 having regard to their prioritisation and urgency of need and taking account also of the ongoing ability to progress them to tender and construction within the parameters of overall funding. Where appropriate, the department will also assess opportunities to undertake advance enabling works for the most urgent and complex projects to facilitate a smooth progression to construction in 2028 and beyond.
Any interim accommodation requirements will continue to be assessed and considered by the department on a case-by-case basis to determine the prioritised needs and approach for addressing same.
The accommodation needs at Gaelscoil Peig Sayers will be considered as part of the ongoing overall department-led prioritisation process, in consultation with the school’s patron and school authorities.
