Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 6 May 2026
413. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Education and Youth further to Parliamentary Question No. 838 of 18 March 2026, to provide clarity for when a school (details supplied) will receive further guidance on a report; if she is aware of the lack of communication the school has received; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32559/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraFurther to Parliamentary Question No. 838 of 18 March 2026, each stage of the building project is subject to the department's due diligence. The addendum report for Owenabue ETNS was received by my department in August 2025 and is currently under detailed review by my department's multi-disciplinary team and as such a timeline for completion of this review cannot be provided.
Once the review is complete, my department will be in contact with the school and their patron with regards the progression of their project.
As the Deputy will be aware I 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 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.
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. The department has also published a list of the 105 school building projects in the first tranche to proceed to construction or tender over 2026 and 2027. This list includes 12 projects in County Cork.
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 in relation to provision for pupils and students with special educational needs.
Projects were prioritised on the following basis: 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 and 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 Owenabue ETNS will be considered as part of the ongoing overall department-led prioritisation process, in consultation with the school’s patron and school authorities.
