360. Deputy Shay Brennan asked the Minister for Education and Youth the expected timeline for the delivery of the permanent school building for a school (details supplied); when the project will proceed to tender; when construction is scheduled to begin; the anticipated completion date; and the steps her Department is taking to ensure that no further delays occur in the progression of this long awaited permanent building. [47481/26]

The project for the school referred to by the Deputy is part of a campus project which will deliver a new 1,000 pupil post primary school and accommodation, including six classrooms for children with special education needs and a new 16 classroom primary school and accommodation, including four classrooms for children with special education needs. The project, which has planning permission, will be delivered under my Department's Design and Build Programme.

Earlier this year my department published the €7.55 billion NDP Sectoral Investment Plan for the Education and Youth Sectors for the period 2026 to 2030. This 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.

The first tranche of 105 school building projects includes 80 large scale and Additional School Accommodation scheme projects. These projects were prioritised with a strong focus on maximising existing capacity and prioritising project rollout to meet the most urgent needs particularly to support special education needs provision.

I recognise that there are schools with important building projects that are not included in the first tranche of prioritised projects. 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 will ultimately inform the next tranches of programme rollout to tender.

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. In this regard, there will continue to be a strong emphasis on maximising existing capacity across the school estate and also ensuring that school admissions policies and processes are targeted at meeting local mainstream and special class requirements.

Any interim accommodation requirements will continue to be assessed and considered by the department on a case-by-case basis to determine the prioritised needs.

The accommodation needs for the school will be considered as part of the ongoing overall department-led prioritisation process, in consultation with the school’s patron