Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 February 2026
556. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Education and Youth when the new school building project for a school (details supplied) will be published on eTenders; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14823/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe large scale capital project for the school referred to by the Deputy is the provision of a new 600 pupil school building including all associated ancillary accommodation.
I am pleased to confirm that the project was authorised to proceed to tender on 12 November 2025. The invitation to tender issued on 28 November 2025 through the e-tenders portal. Tender submissions are expected shortly, following a request for extension to the return period.
I 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.
My Department will continue to build on the progress made over recent years with the continued rollout of these projects on a prioritised basis to meet the most urgent needs of terms of provision of additional capacity and modernisation of existing facilities. In this regard, I have published a list of the 105 school building projects in the first tranche to proceed to tender or construction over 2026 and 2027. This list includes the project at Gaelcholáiste Reachrann and 19 other projects in County Dublin.
These projects are in addition to €1794.9 5million in capital funding for County Dublin schools between 2020 and 2025. Over that period, a total of 244 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 64 school projects in County Dublin under construction.
The 105 prioritised projects will progress to tender and/or construction on a rolling basis over the course of 2026 and 2027 and within the context of NDP funding parameters. The timing of project progression will reflect the need to carefully manage the rollout of these projects to construction on a controlled basis to ensure that projects are delivered efficiently, align with the requirements of the Infrastructure Guidelines and Capital Works Management Framework and remain within the parameters of NDP Funding.
Department officials will continue to engage closely with Patron Bodies, Management Bodies and Schools with respect to the timing of the progression of projects to tender and/or construction over the period 2026 to 2027. This will include continued engagement with Gaelcholáiste Reachrann with respect to the progression of its project to construction. The current status of all projects continues to be set out under item number ten at 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.
