Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 December 2025
143. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Education and Youth for an update on the development and extension plans for a school in Cork (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [67783/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe project to which the Deputy refers has been devolved for delivery to the Joint Managerial Board (JMB).
Coláiste an Phiarsaigh was approved as a new large scale capital project for the provision of a 750 pupil post primary school with four Special Educational Needs (SEN) classrooms.
The project is currently at Stage 2b of the architectural design process. This allows for detailed design and planning, obtaining the necessary statutory permissions and the preparation of tender documents. Planning permission for this project was obtained in September 2025. The Design Team are now working to complete the Stage 2b report for submission to the Department.
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.
