Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 12 February 2026
127. Deputy Peter Roche asked the Minister for Education and Youth the status of the school building and development projects at schools (details supplied); the steps her Department has taken to date to progress these projects; whether she is aware of delays, structural issues and capacity pressures at both schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11109/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe school building project for Trinity Primary School is part of a campus development that has been devolved to Galway and Roscommon Education and Training Board (GRETB) for delivery.
The project brief for Trinity Primary School provides for the construction of a 41-classroom primary school, including five Special Education Needs (SEN) classrooms. The same site will also accommodate the development of an 8-classroom primary school including two SEN classrooms for Tuam Educate Together National School.
The project was approved to progress to Stage 2a (Detailed Design) of the architectural planning process in quarter 3 of 2025. This stage involves developing the design and preparing an accurate cost plan that best aligns with the agreed design. The department awaits submission of a Stage 2a report.
In relation to the second school referred to by the Deputy, the accommodation needs at Scoil Nioclás Naofa Dunmore will be considered as part of the ongoing overall department-led prioritisation process, in consultation with the school’s patron and school authorities. Any interim requirements will be considered by the Department in the normal manner (e.g. Emergency Works Scheme).
All applications from schools for major capital works must be considered in the context of capacity requirements and climate action commitments. The Department is required to manage the allocated capital funding across all schools in the country. The Department can identify opportunities to transform existing schools. The plan for working this through at national scale will be informed by the outcome of an Energy and Condition survey of all schools which is currently underway. The process may ultimately identify a requirement for the replacement of some accommodation, but this is not expected to be widespread. This overall process is particularly valuable in facilitating a proportionate assessment of a school’s accommodation upgrade needs relative to all other schools and allow an effective prioritisation of finite capital investment. The determination of a long-term pathway forward for the school will form part of this wider process.
The department have recently published the €7.55 billion NDP Sectoral Investment Plan for the Education and Youth Sectors for the period 2026 to 2030. This NDP Sectoral Plan involves a very strong emphasis on maximising existing capacity and prioritisation of school building projects to meet the most urgent needs. In this regard there will be a strong special education dimension to project rollout.
Of the total €7.55 billion investment it is envisaged that circa. €5 billion will be used for project rollout to support the delivery and modernisation of school buildings across the Large Scale, Additional Accommodation, Modular, and Annual September Accommodation Needs programmes. Over the course of 2026 and 2027 there will be construction work at circa. 10% of the school estate. These projects will, when completed, provide circa 57,000 additional and modernised school places with a strong SEN focus in all projects.
The department will continue to build on the progress made over recent years with the continued rollout of projects on a prioritised basis to meet the most urgent needs in terms of provision of additional capacity and modernisation of existing facilities. In this regard, the department published a list of the 105 school building projects in the first tranche to proceed to construction or tender over 2026 and 2027.
These projects are in addition to €250.85 million in capital funding for Galway schools between 2020 and 2025. Over that period, a total of 88 Galway schools have been upgraded either through provision of a new school building, a large-scale extension or provision of modular accommodation. There are also currently 17 school projects in County Galway under construction.
The first tranche of 105 school building projects includes 80 large scale and Additional School Accommodation scheme projects. These projects were prioritised with a strong focus on maximising existing capacity and prioritising project rollout to meet the most urgent needs particularly to support special education needs provision.
Firstly, to facilitate the 45 projects that are currently already at tender stage (Stage 3) so that they can progress to construction as smoothly as possible over the course of 2026 and 2027. Secondly, to facilitate 35 projects that currently have planning permission and are at pre-tender stage (Stage 2b) and have been prioritised to meet urgent requirements from a special needs perspective or to provide additional capacity to cater for demographics or to address very significant condition issues at the schools.
The department recognises that there are schools with important building projects that are not included in the first tranche of prioritised projects.
As part of planning ahead for the next tranche of projects to progress to tender, the department-led prioritisation process will continue over the course of 2026 and 2027 to assess and evaluate the progression of individual projects through the design pipeline having regard to the continual need to maximise existing capacity and determine the prioritised needs going forward. This process will involve engagement with key stakeholders and individual schools and will ultimately inform the next tranches of programme rollout to tender. The department-led Energy and Condition Survey of the school estate, which will be finalised later in 2026, will provide an additional evidence base for assessing priorities.
Based on this ongoing prioritisation process some projects may be added to the list over the course of 2026 and 2027 having regard to their prioritisation and urgency of need and taking account also of the ongoing ability to progress them to tender and construction within the parameters of overall funding. Where appropriate, the department will also assess opportunities to undertake advance enabling works for the most urgent and complex projects to facilitate a smooth progression to construction in 2028 and beyond.
Any interim accommodation requirements will continue to be assessed and considered by the department on a case-by-case basis to determine the prioritised needs and approach for addressing same.
The accommodation needs at the schools referred to by the Deputy will be considered as part of the ongoing overall department-led prioritisation process, in consultation with the school’s patron and school authorities.
