277. Deputy Tony McCormack asked the Minister for Education and Youth the reason a new school (details supplied) provided in 2024 to meet modern day educational needs was not constructed in compliance with the plans submitted for permission and approved by Offaly County Council; who in her Department made the decision not to complete the building to designs submitted by her Department and approved by the local authority; and to ensure before planning permission expires that the project is completed to the approved design. [48453/26]

My Department recently provided a new school building on a greenfield site for the school referred to by the Deputy comprising four mainstream classrooms, one Special Education Needs (SEN) classroom, and associated ancillary accommodation. At present, the school has staffing for two mainstream classes and one SEN class. This indicates that there is significant spare accommodation capacity available within the existing school building.

Since 2020, my Department has invested over €6.9 billion in schools nationwide under the National Development Plan (NDP), delivering more than 1,400 school building projects and over 4,000 small-scale improvement works. A key priority has been the effective use of existing accommodation, including the repurposing of available space to support the timely provision of additional school places, particularly for children with special educational needs.

A capital allocation of €7.55 billion has been confirmed for the Department of Education and Youth for the period 2026–2030. Under this programme, priority will be given to meeting urgent school place requirements including for special education places and ensuring the optimal use of the existing school estate before additional capital projects are progressed.

In this context, large-scale projects and additional accommodation works will be prioritised based on demonstrable need, including capacity pressures at local level. My Department will continue to advance projects on a phased basis under the NDP Implementation Plan, with further project tranches to be identified over the lifetime of the programme in consultation with patrons, evolving demographic and housing projections and a department led energy and condition survey. I want to assure the Deputy that my department is always conscious of meeting its statutory obligations including for the school referred to.