Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 January 2026
540. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Education and Youth for an update on the school building programme for primary and secondary schools, respectively in Cork north central; the details of the current stage of development of each; the projects still in the planning or design phases, the expected timeline for progression to the next stage; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6167/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy department has invested circa €768m in capital expenditure since 2020 in County Cork of which €190m was in Cork North Central. This investment in County Cork has supported the completion of over 155 School building projects of which 28 are in Cork North Central. These completions include 12 new school buildings in County Cork of which 3 are in Cork North central. In addition, 22 school building projects are currently in construction in County Cork of which 2 are in Cork North Central.
The current status of all projects, including completions, is set out under item number ten at the following link (www.gov.ie). This is updated on a regular basis to reflect project progress through the various stages of capital appraisal, site acquisition, design, tender and construction.
Since 2020, my department has invested over €6 billion in our schools throughout the country under the National Development Plan, involving the completion of almost 1,400 school building projects along with over 4,000 small-scale improvement works to meet priority maintenance needs and advance energy efficiency and climate goals. In addition, repurposing, and optimisation of existing accommodation capacity across the school estate has been a key enabler of timely, local provision of special class capacity in a way that supports best practice in inclusion and integration. Circa 80% of new special classes in 2025/26 are being facilitated in repurposed classroom accommodation. This significant investment has delivered real benefits for school communities.
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. Building on this 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 requirements.
In delivering Large-Scale projects and Additional School Accommodation scheme projects, the approach will be to maximise the capacity of the existing school estate as much as possible in the first instance, and to provide additional capacity through a targeted and prioritised rollout of projects over the 2026–2030 period to meet the most urgent needs.
The NDP Implementation Plan for the Education and Youth sector and the first tranche of projects to progress to tender or 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.
