Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 February 2026
337. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Youth the combined costs of all projects that are currently at Stage 2a or 2b approval by her Department of education for school building projects across the country; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15832/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy will be aware, 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. This includes the completion of circa 300 school buildings currently in construction.
My 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 with a capital investment of €1.6 billion.
These 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.
The 105 prioritised projects consist of 80 large-scale and ASA (additional school accommodation) projects along with 25 projects to be delivered under the Modular Accommodation Programme.
The 80 large-scale and ASA projects are estimated to cost just under €1.6bn.
Of the 80 projects,
• 45 projects that are already at tender stage (Stage 3)
• 35 projects that have planning permission and are at pre-tender stage (Stage 2b).
Regarding the 45 projects that are currently already at tender stage (Stage 3), these projects are being progressed on a rolling basis to ensure that the Department of Education continues to operate within NDP funding parameters.
These projects include 19 new school buildings of which the majority are either special schools or primary/post-primary schools that are currently operating from interim accommodation and have an urgent need for permanent accommodation.
These 105 projects will provide over 27,000 additional and modernised school places a particular priority is the expansion of capacity in our special schools.
• The first tranche of projects covers the initial two-year period of NDP rollout, and the next tranche of projects will be finalised and published afterwards (post 2027) following a stakeholder engagement process to identify the next most urgent priorities. This stakeholder engagement will be undertaken during 2026 and 2027 and will include an assessment of how well existing capacity is maximised and enrolment policies and processes are prioritising local special education provision and mainstream requirements. 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.
• Provision of additional special classes each year to meet annual needs with target to have up to 80% of them opened through re-purposing existing accommodation.
• Continued strong focus on expansion of capacity at existing special schools and opening some new special schools where necessary. This will assist with the rollout of the Education Therapy Services.
The list of all projects and the stages are available on the Departments website and updated to show progression on a monthly basis .
Cost information about projects is commercially sensitive and is therefore not put in the public domain as it may impact on the Department getting the best possible outcome from procurement processes.
The current status of all projects continues to be 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.
