Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 20 November 2025
459. Deputy John Connolly asked the Minister for Education and Youth the status of the development and enhancement works at a school (details supplied) in Galway city; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [65021/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe major building project referred to by the Deputy will be delivered via my Departments ADAPT Programme.
ADAPT is an acronym for "Accelerated Delivery of Architectural Planning and Tendering". The ADAPT Programme uses a professional external Project Manager to co-ordinate and drive the Design Team to achieve the best possible timeframe during the stages of architectural planning.
The brief for this major project is the development of a 1,000 pupil Post Primary School with 4 classroom SEN base at Coláiste Muire Máthair, St. Mary’s Road, Shantalla, Galway including the refurbishment of existing school building (protected structure), internal remodelling of existing building extensions and the construction of a new build extension including all associated site works.
The project is currently at Stage 1 - Preliminary Design (assessment of site and location suitability and initial sketch scheme).
As part of the Stage 1 process the Design Team submit a Stage 1 Report to my Department. A preferred design option, including the scope and extent of works to be carried out form part of this report.
The Stage 1 Report is currently with my Department for review and upon completion of that due diligence review the Stage 1 stakeholders meeting will be scheduled.
In July the Government announced a capital allocation of €7.55 billion for the Department of Education and Youth 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. It is planned that circa 80 school building projects will progress to construction across 2026 and 2027 as part of a 2-year rolling programme.
All Government departments are expected to publish their sectoral NDP Implementation Plans in November. My department’s 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.
