Brian Brennan
Question:172. Deputy Brian Brennan asked the Minister for Education and Youth for an update on progress of school building projects (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40682/26]
View answerThursday, 28 May 2026
Questions (172)
Written answers
The current status of the building projects referred to by the Deputy is as follows:
Colaiste Bhride, Carnew, Arklow CBS and Avondale Community College have all been devolved for delivery to the National Development Finance Agency (NDFA) as part of a programme of school building projects (Project Dargle). All 3 projects are currently at Stage 2b of the architectural planning design process with a full grant of planning permission received for each school. NDFA will continue to engage directly with the individual school authorities to keep them fully informed of progress.
Regarding Bunclody Community College, this project is devolved for delivery to Waterford and Wexford Education and Training Board (WWETB). The project is currently at Stage 2b of the architectural process, which allows for detailed design/planning, obtaining the necessary statutory permissions and the preparation of tender documents. WWETB will continue to engage directly with the school authority to keep it fully informed of progress.
Finally, in relation to Glenart College Arklow, I am pleased to inform the Deputy a project comprising of a three-classroom special educational needs (SEN) base has been devolved for delivery to the Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board (KWETB). The project was approved to progress to Stage 2b (planning) in May 2024. My department currently await the submission of the Stage 2b report. On submission of this report, my department will carry out a detailed review from both a technical and cost perspective. In November 2025, under the Emergency Works Scheme, the Department also approved funding to improve accessibility at the school’s main entrance and lobby for Special Needs facilities.
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.
The current status of all projects continues to be set out under item number ten at the following link: www.gov.ie. This is updated on a regular basis to reflect project progress through the various stages of capital appraisal, site acquisition, design, tender and construction.