Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 May 2026
532. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will provide an update on the development of a new school site to accommodate a school (details supplied) when the new schools will be operational; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38783/26]
View answerThe schools referred to by the Deputy will be delivered under my Departments Adapt 4 programme - Programme Innovate.
This joint major building project for Le Chéile Secondary School and Gaelscoil an Chaisleáin will deliver a new 1,000 pupil post primary school and accommodation, including 6 classrooms for pupils with special educational needs, and a new 8 classroom primary school and accommodation, including 2 classrooms for pupils with special educational needs on the Ballincollig site.
Programme Innovate will be delivered 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.
This project is currently at the initial stage of architectural planning – Stage 1 - where the Integrated Project Team carry out a site and current building assessment and initial design sketch schemes are created. My department received the Stage 1 report in December 2025, and the State 1 stakeholder meeting took place in late January 2026 with department officials, the Integrated Project Team and both school authorities in attendance.
The IPT were requested to submit a Stage 1 Addendum report to respond to department queries, and this was received in the department mid-April 2026 for review. On completion of the review, the IPT and school stakeholders will be advised regarding project progression.
It is not possible to provide a timeframe for the progression of this project to construction stage until such time as the necessary statutory approvals have been secured.
A total capital allocation of €7.55 billion for the Department of Education and Youth has been confirmed 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.
As part of the NDP Implementation Plan for the education and youth sector, a first tranche of projects to progress to tender and/or construction during 2026 and 2027 was published in January 2026. Prioritisation will continue to identify further tranches of projects to proceed to tender and construction over the NDP period, with stakeholder onsultation to commence in June 2026.
Our 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.
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.
