Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 28 May 2026
183. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will provide a clear and immediate timeline for when the new building works at a school (details supplied) will commence; and any direct support from her Department to ensure there are no further delays in progressing this project; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40815/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs previously advised, the school referred to by the deputy was approved to enter my department’s pipeline of school buildings under the Additional School Accommodation Scheme for a project providing one mainstream classroom, one special education tuition (SET) room and one special educational needs (SEN) classroom and ancillary. The project is devolved to the school authority for delivery.
This project remains at stage 2b (detailed design). The Stage 2b report has been submitted to my department and is undergoing a thorough review from both a technical and cost perspective. All school building projects, including this one, will undergo the necessary due diligence outlined in the Infrastructure Guidelines. Managing timing, scope, and cost is crucial to ensuring that the overall school building programme remains within the funding parameters.
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.
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.
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.
Any interim accommodation requirements will continue to be assessed and considered by my department on a case-by-case basis to determine the prioritised needs and approach for addressing same.
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.
