36. Deputy Seán Kyne asked the Minister for Education and Youth the status of the school building project for a school (details supplied); when the school will be approved to proceed to the next stage; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53311/26]

The project at St Joseph's College to which the Deputy refers is devolved to Le Cheile Trust for delivery.

The project is currently at Stage 2b of the architectural design process. This stage allows for detailed design and planning, obtaining necessary statutory permissions and preparation of tender documents. Planning permission has been granted. A Stage 2b report was submitted to the Department in April 2026. It is currently undergoing a detailed technical and cost review in line with the Infrastructure Guidelines.

My department has a strong track record of delivering the school building programme with over €7 billion invested since 2020. This has delivered approximately 1,400 completed school building projects and over 4,000 smaller-scale improvement projects. Over €264.25 million in capital funding has been invested in County Galway schools since 2020. Over this period, a total of 89 schools in County Galway have been upgraded either through provision of a new school building, a large-scale extension or provision of modular accommodation. There are also currently 18 school projects in County Galway under construction.

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 department-led prioritisation process underway for 2026 and 2027, consultation with school patrons began this month. A further tranche of priority projects is targeted for publication in 2027, informed by departmental analysis, engagement with patrons and schools, funding parameters, and—where relevant—the department’s energy and condition inventory of the school estate, due for completion by year-end.

The department is also implementing a more strategic, data-driven approach to project appraisal and prioritisation. This includes the development of the School Profile Report, the formalisation of a clear prioritisation framework, and the use of demographic, capacity, energy and condition data to guide decisions. These reforms will ensure that projects progress in a transparent, consistent and evidence-based manner.

The current status of all projects continues to be set out under item number ten at the following link: www.gov.ie. This is updated on a regular basis to reflect project progress through the various stages of capital appraisal, site acquisition, design, tender and construction.