Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 10 December 2025
203. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Education and Youth the position regarding the new school building project (details supplied); the reason for the delays of its completion; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [70834/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe project to which the deputy refers has been devolved to the National Development Finance Agency (NDFA) for delivery as part of a programme of school building projects.
The brief for this project is provide a new build post primary school to accommodate a long-term projected enrolment of 1,000 pupils including a 6 class SEN base.
The project is currently at Stage 3 of the architectural design process – Tender Stage. The length of time a project takes to go through each stage varies and depends on a number of factors, including scale and complexity. The NDFA will continue to engage directly with the school authority to keep it informed of progress.
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.
Government departments are currently in the process of publishing their sectoral NDP Implementation Plans. The sectoral plan for the Education and Youth sector will be published next week and the first tranche of projects to progress to construction will be published in January. This 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.
The current status of all projects is listed on a county-by-county basis at www.gov.ie. under item number 10 and this is updated on a regular basis to reflect project progress through the various stages of capital appraisal, site acquisition, design, tender and construction.
