Thomas Gould
Question:310. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Education and Youth when a proposal for a school extension (details supplied) in Cork will progress to construction. [46993/26]
View answerTuesday, 23 June 2026
Questions (310)
Written answers
The brief for the major building project referred to by the Deputy is the development of an 18 classroom special school for pupils with special educational needs, at the current site of St Killian’s Special School, Old Youghal Road, Mayfield, Cork.
This major project is being delivered under the Departments ADAPT Programme.
The ADAPT Programme uses a professional external Project Manager to co-ordinate and drive the Design Team to achieve the best possible timeframe for the project through the stages of Architectural Planning to Tender and Construction.
The original brief was to provide a new extension and refurbishment of the existing building. During Stage 1 – Preliminary Design where the Design Team assess the site suitability, existing buildings and present design options, a new replacement school building was approved by the Department as the agreed preferred design option. This will eliminate the requirement to decant the school from its current location during the construction stage of the project.
The Design Team, having received authorisation to progress Stage 2(a) – Developed Design in late February 2025, will be developing the preferred agreed design option to a stage where it can be fully cost planned and prepared to lodge for all statutory approvals, including planning permission.
The Department recently received the Stage 2(a) Addendum report in April 2026. Upon review and approval of the Stage 2(a) Addendum, the Department will advise the School and Design Team regarding the further progression of the project.
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 €796.58 million in capital funding for Cork schools. A total of 168 schools have been upgraded either through provision of a new school building, a large-scale extension or provision of modular accommodation. 12 school projects were included in the NDP Implementation Plan to go to tender or construction in 2026 and 2027.
There are currently 18 school projects in Cork under construction. This summer, 35 schools are approved to undergo works as part of the Climate Action Summer Works Scheme.
In addition, since 2020 a total of 369 special classes have been sanctioned in Cork, of which 63 were sanctioned for September 2026.