Claire Kerrane
Question:146. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will provide an update on a new school build (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39681/26]
View answerThursday, 28 May 2026
Questions (146)
Written answers
The major building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is now at an advanced stage of Architectural Planning - Stage 2(b) - Detailed Design, which includes the application for statutory approvals, which have been secured, and the preparation of tender documents.
The brief for the project is to provide a new 16 classroom primary school with an additional classrooms for pupils with special educational needs.
My Department received the Stage 2b submission report from the Design Team in March 2025. My Department commenced a detailed review of this report by the multi disciplinary team and comments were issued to the Design Team requesting clarification. The Design Team have addressed these comments and the responses to those queries are currently under ongoing detailed review.
Since 2020, my department has invested over €6.9 billion in our schools throughout the country under the National Development Plan, involving the completion of over 1,400 school building projects along with over 4,000 small-scale improvement works to meet priority maintenance needs and advance energy efficiency and climate goal. 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.
This investment has delivered real benefits for school communities.
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 consultation 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.
I would like to advise the Deputy, over this period, my Department has provided €264.25 million in capital funding for Galway schools. A total of 89 schools have been upgraded either through provision of a new school building, a large-scale extension or provision of modular accommodation. 10 school projects were included in the NDP Implementation Plan to go to tender or construction in 2026 and 2027 including Scoil an Chroi Naofa.
There are currently 18 school projects in Galway under construction. This summer, 20 schools are approved to undergo works as part of the Climate Action Summer Works Scheme.
In addition, since 2020 a total of 108 special classes have been sanctioned in Galway, of which 30 were sanctioned for September 2026.