Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 12 February 2026
153. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Education and Youth if her Department will provide an update on a school (details supplied), and the progress in relation to the proposed new three-school campus following her visit to the school; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11017/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe school referred to by the Deputy forms part of the Celbridge Campus project encompassing Scoil Naomh Padraig, St Raphael’s Special School and Celbridge Community School. This project has been devolved for delivery to the National Development Finance Agency (NDFA) as part of a bundled school building programme (Project Shannon).
The brief for Scoil Naomh Padraig includes the provision of 24 mainstream classrooms and 4 Special Educational Needs classrooms.
The project is currently at Stage 2a of the architectural design process. Stage 2a (the developed design stage) involves the Design Team developing the designs, fully cost planning the campus project and preparing the necessary documentation to facilitate the lodging for statutory approval to Kildare County Council. The department are currently awaiting the submission of the Stage 2a report. A meeting between Department officials, the NDFA and the Land Development Agency (LDA) in relation to this campus project took place at the end of January. The NDFA will continue to engage directly with the school authority to keep them fully informed of all progress on this important project.
In relation to the present temporary accommodation, my department continues to work closely with the school in question, the wellbeing and safety of students is a priority. Some interim works have recently been undertaken to ensure that all pupils can attend the school as normal. Some further works are also planned.
As the Deputy will be aware, the department 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, I have also 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 €397.08 million in capital funding for Kildare schools between 2020 and 2025. Over that period, a total of 47 Kildare 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 9 school projects in Kildare under construction. Another 12?school?projects will go to tender or construction in 2026 and 2027, and this summer, 5 schools?are approved to?undergo works as part of the Summer Works Scheme / Climate Action scheme. In addition, since 2020 a total of 74 special classes have been opened in Kildare, 11 of which were sanctioned for September 2026.
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 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 my department on a case-by-case basis to determine the prioritised needs and approach for addressing same.
The accommodation needs at the school referred to will be considered as part of the ongoing overall department-led prioritisation process, in consultation with the school’s patron and school authorities.
