Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 28 May 2026
185. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Education and Youth to report on capital investment in the provision of additional needs education supports; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40387/26]
View answerSince 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. Special needs education is part of the overall school building programme and is fully integrated into the delivery of school building projects. This investment has delivered real benefits for school communities.
16 new special schools have been established since 2020 with a further 4 special schools to be established for September 2026. In the same period 68 existing special schools had school building projects. This combined with projects in construction or due to go to construction in 2026/27 (20 projects) represents over 60% of total special schools.
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. To date, there are 546 special classes sanctioned for the 2026/2027 school year.
Last January, I published the €7.55 billion NDP Sectoral Investment Plan for the education and youth sectors for the period 2026 to 2030. This investment builds on progress made over recent years and will support the expansion and modernisation of the school system and the youth sector. Supporting special education provision will be a particular focus.
Of the total €7.55 billion investment, it is envisaged that approximately €5 billion will be used for project rollout to support the delivery and modernisation of school buildings. This project rollout will continue on a prioritised basis to meet the most urgent needs in terms of provision of additional capacity and modernisation of existing facilities and will prioritise project rollout to meet the most urgent needs particularly to support special education needs provision.
