Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 May 2026
311. Deputy Shane Moynihan asked the Minister for Education and Youth the current status of the building project at a school (details supplied); the stage it is at within her Department’s planning and delivery process; the reasons for any delays in progressing the project; and the expected timeline for advancement to the next stage and delivery of the additional accommodation. [36422/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe school referred to by the Deputy was approved to enter my Departments pipeline under the Additional Accommodation Scheme to provide one mainstream classroom and a two classroom special educational needs (SEN) base. The project was devolved to the school for delivery.
This project is currently at Stage 1 (preliminary design). The stage 1 report has been submitted to my Department and this is currently under review from both a technical and cost perspective. All projects, including this one, will undergo the necessary due diligence outlined in the public Infrastructure Guidelines. Managing timing, scope, and cost is crucial to staying within budgetary limits for the overall program.
Although this project is not within the first tranche of school building projects recently published in the NDP Sectoral Investment Plan, it remains part of my Department’s overall pipeline of school building projects. The 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.
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, my 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.
The accommodation needs at this school will be considered as part of the ongoing overall department led prioritisation process, in consultation with the school’s patron and school authorities. It is not possible to provide indicative timelines for progression to subsequent stages, as the project remains under active review and will advance in line with the wider NDP programme implementation framework.
