Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 January 2026
513. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Education and Youth the current status of an additional accommodation project application by a school (details supplied); when the school can proceed to the next phase; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5949/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe school to which the Deputy refers was approved to enter my Department’s pipeline for a project under my Department's Additional School Accommodation (ASA) Scheme. The project will provide four mainstream classrooms, eight special education tuition (SET) rooms and a four classroom special educational needs (SEN) base and ancillary. The project was devolved for delivery to the school authority.
The project is currently at Stage 2a (developed design), and a submission was received by my Department, however additional information was requested to address some Mechanical and Electrical issues. A response has now been received by the Department and together with original Stage 2a (developed design) addendum, is under review from both a technical and cost perspective in accordance with the requirements of the Public Spending Code. Once the review is completed, the outcome will be communicated to the school authority to keep them fully informed of progress.
In July 2025, 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 the 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.
The NDP Implementation Plan for the Education and Youth sector and the first tranche of projects to progress to construction will be published by the Department shortly. 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.
