Malcolm Byrne
Ceist:519. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Youth for an update on the planned extension to a school (details supplied) in County Wicklow. [6006/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 27 January 2026
Ceisteanna (519)
Freagraí scríofa
The school referred to by the Deputy, was approved to enter the Department’s pipeline of school buildings under the Additional School Accommodation Scheme for a project providing a two classroom Special Educational Needs (SEN) base. The project is devolved to the school authority for delivery.
The project is currently at Stage 2b (post planning) and the Stage 2b report has not yet been submitted to the Department. Once received, it will be reviewed from both a technical and cost perspective in accordance with the requirements of the Public Spending Code. All projects, including this one, are subjected to the required due diligence as specified in the Department's infrastructure guidelines.
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 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.
The NDP Implementation Plan for the Education and Youth sector and the first tranche of projects to progress to construction will be published by my 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.