Thomas Gould
Ceist:284. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Education and Youth for an update on a school building project (details supplied). [71524/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 13 October 2026
Ceisteanna (284)
Freagraí scríofa
The major building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is currently at Stage 2(a) of Architectural Planning – Developed Design, where the preferred agreed design option can be developed to a stage where the project is fully cost planned and the scheme can be prepared to lodge for statutory approvals with the local authority.
The major project is being delivered under the Department's ADAPT programme. The ADAPT programme uses a professional external Programme Manager to co-ordinate and drive the Design Team to achieve the best possible timeframe for the project through the design stages of architectural planning to Tender and Construction.
The brief for the school referred to by the Deputy is the development of a new 16 classroom Gaelscoil with additional classrooms for pupils with Special Educational needs, including the construction of a New School Building and all associated site works, on a green-field site adjacent to the current school building.
My department has reviewed the Stage 2(a) Submission from the Design Team. The Stage 2(a) Stakeholders meeting was held on the 24th of January 2025, with representatives from the School Authorities, Design Team, Project Manager and my department in attendance. The meeting concluded with a request for the Design Team to submit a Stage 2(a) Addendum report addressing issues raised by my department at the meeting.
My department has reviewed the Stage 2(a) Addendum report and recently issued their comments to the School and Design Team.
As part of planning ahead, the department-led prioritisation process will continue over the course of 2026 and 2027 to assess and evaluate individual projects, including the school referred to by the Deputy, to progress through the design pipeline, having regard to the continued need to maximise existing capacity and determine the prioritised needs going forward. An instruction for progression to Stage 2b will be issued in due course once internal governance procedures are complete.
Since 2020, my department has invested over €7 billion in our schools throughout the country under the National Development Plan, involving the completion of over 1,600 school building projects along with over 4,300 small-scale improvement works to meet priority maintenance needs and advance energy efficiency and climate goal. In addition, repurposing and optimisation of existing accommodation capacity across the school estate has been a key enabler of timely, local provision of special class capacity in a way that supports best practice in inclusion and integration. In the region of 85% of new special classes in 2026/27 are being facilitated in repurposed classroom accommodation. This investment has delivered real benefits for school communities.
A total capital allocation of €7.55 billion for the Department of Education and Youth has been confirmed for the period 2026-2030 under the National Development Plan. As part of this NDP allocation my department will place a strong emphasis on provision for children with special educational needs, with a particular focus on meeting annual school place needs. In relation to project rollout for Large-Scale projects and Additional School Accommodation scheme projects, the approach will be to continue to maximise the capacity of the existing school estate as much as possible in the first instance and provide necessary additional capacity through targeted and prioritised project rollout over the course of 2026 to 2030 period to meet the most urgent and prioritised needs.
As part of the NDP Implementation Plan for the education and youth sector, a first tranche of projects to progress to tender and/or construction during 2026 and 2027 was published in January 2026. Prioritisation will continue to identify further tranches of projects to proceed to tender and construction over the NDP period, with stakeholder consultation ongoing.
Our NDP Implementation Plan will optimise outputs from the NDP allocations, with a strong focus on maximising existing school capacity, progressing priority projects where local capacity across schools in the area is insufficient, and ensuring delivery that is affordable, offers value for money, and meets functional needs.
I would like to advise the Deputy, since 2020, my Department has provided over €840 million in capital funding for Cork schools. A total of 197 schools have been upgraded through provision of either a new school building, extension, modular accommodation or climate pathfinder projects. 12 school projects to go to tender or construction in 2026 and 2027 were included in the NDP Implementation Plan.
There are currently 16 large-scale, extension, modular or climate pathfinder projects in Cork under construction. There are also 35 projects underway?through the Climate Action Summer Works Scheme.
In addition, since 2020 a total of 376 special classes have been sanctioned in Cork, of which 70 were sanctioned for September 2026.