Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 July 2026
12. Deputy Shane Moynihan asked the Minister for Education and Youth for an update on existing school building projects in Dublin Mid-West which are not yet approved; the current stage of each; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54070/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe schools I intend to address are St. Thomas Junior National School and Scoil Aíne Naofa in Lucan and Divine Mercy junior and senior national schools and St. Kevin's Community College. What is the current status of the Lucan Community College project and Scoil Chrónáin? I ask the Minister to make a statement on the matter.
I thank the Deputy. My Department is delivering significant projects in Dublin Mid-West and continues to progress further important projects. There are currently eight projects onsite across Dublin Mid-West, including new school buildings for Coláiste Pobail Fola, Gaelscoil na Camóige, Gaelscoil Chluain Dolcáin and Holy Family Community School. Gaelscoil Lír was substantially completed and handed over to the school at the end of last week. A further four projects are at tender stage, including a new school building for Scoil Chronáin and deep energy retrofit works at Coláiste Bríde, Deansrath Community College and Collinstown Park Community College. In addition, 20 large-scale and additional accommodation projects are progressing through the design pipeline. Ten are at preliminary design, which is stage 1. One is at developed design, which is stage 2a. Nine are at detailed design, which is stage 2b. One of these stage 2b projects - the new school building for Adamstown Castle Educate Together National School - has been included in the priority tranche of projects published in January as part of national development plan, NDP, roll-out.
There are also a further 12 projects being progressed under the modular programme and the climate action summer works scheme. It is important to note that only projects already at tender stage, or close to being tender-ready, were considered and prioritised for the first tranche of projects approved to proceed under the Department's NDP implementation plan. However, priority projects at earlier stages of the pipeline continue to be advanced, with particular emphasis on special schools, schools operating entirely in interim accommodation, projects providing significant special education capacity, additional accommodation to meet demographic growth, and schools with the most pressing building condition issues. The Department is targeting 2027 for the publication of the next tranche of priority projects to proceed to tender. To be considered, projects will have to be at an appropriate stage of readiness. Prioritisation will be informed by departmental analysis, engagement with patrons and schools, available funding, and, where relevant, findings from the Department's school estate energy and condition survey.
I thank the Minister for her very comprehensive answer. I see first hand the progress that is being made with school buildings across the constituency but there are also buildings that need to be addressed as a matter of urgency. The Minister mentioned Scoil Chrónáin. In answers she has given me in parliamentary questions, she is aware there is a delay on the tender with that particular school. I would very much welcome any urgency we can apply to make sure we break ground by quarter 4 of this year because that is contingent on the planning permission not having to be extended and for the delivery of the school building for Scoil Chrónáin that is so important.
Similarly, for Lucan Community College, that is being delivered under phase one through a modular framework and there is now an intention to secure planning for the remaining phase, so that does not delay the delivery of phases two and three of Lucan. I also wish to draw attention to Devine Mercy junior and senior national schools. I went Devine Mercy Junior National School. It still the same building that was built in the 1980s. It is not fit for purpose and it is one that should be prioritised. Similarly, with St. Thomas's and Scoil Aíne in Lucan. There are cramped conditions for a rapidly growing part of Lucan. They need to be urgently prioritised. In my supplementary question, I will speak about the pipeline the Minister mentioned.
There has been a lot of correspondence in relation to Scoil Chrónáin in Rathcoole. The Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, along with the Deputy have raised concerns around this. I reassure the Deputy in regard to Scoil Chrónáin, which is an all-Irish co-educational primary school under the patronage of the Archbishop of Dublin. The brief for the permanent project is to provide a new 16-classroom primary school and accommodation, including two classrooms for children with special educational needs on the permanent site in Rathcoole, County Dublin. That project will be delivered under my Department's employer-led design programme which uses a professional external project manager to co-ordinate and drive the design team to achieve the best possible timeframe for the project through the stages of architectural planning to tender and construction. That project progressed to tender on 25 February 2025. The tender returns were received on 2 May 2025. The tenders were evaluated by the design team. Following due diligence being carried out and discussions with the preferred tender, the company withdrew its tender. The Department's design team is now carrying out due diligence in relation to the next placed tender with the view to submitting a tender assessment report for my Department's consideration. The Deputy raised concerns around the planning permission. If necessary, we will prepare the documentation for an application to extend that.
Hopefully, we will not need to extend the planning. That is the intention of all. Similarly for Lucan Community College, we need to get the planning right now for phases two and three. I wish to speak about the pipeline because it is important that the message we get out to parents is that there is a pipeline and that we are not taking a stop-start approach to prioritising schools. I wish to emphasise how important it is that the likes of Devine Mercy Junior National School, which is a very proud school in Balgaddy, gets approved for the building it has been waiting for quite a long time. The standard response I have got back for the past two years is that there will be a meeting of stakeholders in the near future and nothing past that. I am very keen to see progress on that.
Similarly for St. Thomas's and Scoil Aíne junior and senior national schools in Lucan, they are immediately adjacent to Adamstown, which is one of the rapidly growing areas in the country right now. They are in the same building they were in when the school was opened. That needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. For St. Kevin's Community School in Clondalkin, the buildings are very much the same as they were when I was there. It was considered an old building then. The prefabs and the building are not in the condition they should be in. That needs to be prioritised for that next list. I am pleased to hear there is a pipeline but I am keen to see we make sure the right schools get on it in terms of their prioritisation.
I am conscious if I go into one school I am going to run out of time but I heard the schools the Deputy raised. To be eligible for inclusion in the first tranche of projects to proceed, projects needed to be ready and be at the appropriate stage of readiness. Stage 3 is tender and stage 2b is detailed design and pre-tender. Within this context, priority was afforded to special schools, and we will be having a focus on that for the next tranche, schools that are fully in interim accommodation across the country and with an urgent requirement for permanent accommodation and projects delivering significant special education capacity. We are looking at the existing accommodation when we are looking at expanding schools or the NPD where it is possible we can use the existing school capacity. Another weighting we give is additional accommodation required to cater for demographic growth in an area and projects dealing with the most significant condition issues. That is our condition and energy survey. For the first time, the Department will have information and good data on the energy and condition of all our school estates across the country. That will feed into the next prioritisation.
