Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 June 2026
322. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Education and Youth for an update on the progress in undertaking a rebuild of three schools (details supplied) in Dublin 7; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47136/26]
View answerThe joint major building project for the schools referred to by the Deputy is currently at Stage 2(a) of Architectural Planning - Developed Design - which is a crucial element of the architectural planning process as it is at this stage that the design is developed to a stage where it can be fully cost planned and prepared to lodge for statutory approvals.
The Addendum Stage 2a report is under review by department officials and upon completion of that review a date for the Stage 2a stakeholders meeting will be scheduled.
As part of the Stage 2a process and Addendum report review decant solutions must be considered.
Department officials visited the schools on Friday 27th March 2026 and discussed potential options for a decant solution with the school authorities.
These options are currently being explored further and department officials met again with the school authorities and design team lead on 18th June 2026.
Department officials will continue to engage and update the school authorities of progress on the decant solution.
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 €1906.47 million in capital funding for Dublin schools.
Over this period, a total of 261 schools have been upgraded either through provision of a new school building, a large-scale extension or provision of modular accommodation.
20 school projects to go to tender or construction in 2026 and 2027 were included in the NDP Implementation Plan.
There are currently 54 school projects in Dublin under construction.
This summer, 53 schools?are approved to?undergo works as part of the Climate Action Summer Works Scheme.
In addition, since 2020 a total of 536 special classes have been sanctioned in Dublin, of which 135 were sanctioned for September 2026.
