Written answer
Schools Building Projects
107. Deputy Tony McCormack asked the Minister for Education and Youth the total capital allocation for school building projects in 2026; the way this funding is being prioritised across projects at planning, design and construction stages; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34610/26]
Comment on this
Since 2020, my department has invested over €6.9 billion in our schools throughout the country under the National Development Plan, involving the completion of over 1,400 school building projects along with over 4,000 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. Circa 80% of new special classes in 2025/26 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.
This equates to an average of €1.51 billion per annum with some front-loading in the initial period as set out in the table below:
Department of Education and Youth - Breakdown of €7.55 billion into annual allocations for 2026-2030 period -
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.