John Brady
Question:1417. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Education and Youth to provide an update on the status of a school building project (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [58899/26]
View answerTuesday, 28 July 2026
Questions (1417)
Written answers
The Blessington Community College project has been devolved for delivery to Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board (KWETB).
This project brief provides for a 1,000 pupil school plus 6 special education needs classes. I am pleased to confirm that Department officials recently issued approval to KWETB for this project to proceed to tender, Stage 3 of the architectural design process. The Department continues to actively engage with the KWETB to provide practical advice and assistance on this much needed project. KWETB, as Delivery Body, will be engaging directly with the school authority to keep it informed of progress.
Since 2020, my department has invested over €7 billion in our schools throughout the country under the National Development Plan, involving the completion of over 1,500 school building projects along with circa 4,300 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.
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.