Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 December 2025
165. Deputy Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin asked the Minister for Education and Youth the status of a development (details supplied); if this includes a sports and recreation facility, noting the school provides education to approximately 1,000 students; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [68396/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe building project to which the Deputy refers has been devolved for delivery to the National Development Finance Agency (NDFA) as part of a programme of school building projects.
The brief is to provide a new build replacement post primary school for a long-term projected enrolment of 1,000 pupils including both general classrooms, specialist rooms, and a 4 class Special Education Needs (SEN) base.
The project is currently at Stage 2b of the architectural planning design process with a full grant of planning permission received for the school in 2024. Stage 2b is being finalised at the moment. The length of time a project takes to go through each stage varies, depending on a number of factors, including scale and complexity.
In relation to the provision of sports and recreation facilities, Department officials have engaged with the NDFA and the school authorities in order to deliver the optimum design for the school, within the parameters of the brief approved. The project includes a PE hall, a fitness suite, changing rooms, outdoor hard play courts, and a secure hard and soft play area.
The Department remains committed to providing ongoing guidance and practical support in the delivery of this project. The NDFA will continue to engage directly with the school authorities to keep them fully informed of progress on this important project.
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.
