The project referred to by the Deputy has been devolved to the Le Chéile Trust for delivery.
The project brief provides for a 1,000-pupil post-primary school for St Joseph’s Patrician College including a 2 classroom Special Education Needs (SEN) base. The new school will be located on a greenfield site in Dangan.
The project is currently in the final stages of Stage 2b of the architectural design process. This stage allows for detailed design and planning, obtaining necessary statutory permissions and preparation of tender documents. Planning has been granted, and Le Chéile Trust have advised that the Stage 2b report is expected to be submitted in early 2026. Once received, it will undergo a detailed technical and cost review in line with the Public Spending Code. Managing timing, scope, and cost is crucial to staying within budgetary limits for the overall program.
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 Plan involves a very strong emphasis on maximising existing capacity and prioritisation of school building projects to meet the most urgent needs. There will be a strong special education dimension to project rollout.
Of the €7.55 billion investment it’s envisaged that circa. €5 billion will be used for project rollout to support delivery and modernisation of school buildings across 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 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 105 school building projects in the first tranche to proceed to construction or tender over 2026 and 2027. This list includes 10 projects in County Galway.
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 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 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 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.
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 school 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.
