1181. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Education and Youth if condition surveys have been undertaken at schools (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [55709/26]

In preparing for the decarbonisation of the school estate my Department needed to establish a national energy profile of the school sector.

A pilot phase of the Schools Energy Inventory project was completed in December 2022 and included 601 schools across five Counties, Kildare, Meath, Offaly, Wexford and Wicklow. This pilot was funded by the European Investment Bank Advisory Hub programme.

Additional funding was subsequently secured in 2024 under the REPowerEU programme to complete this work for all remaining schools. This work is scheduled to be completed by end of 2026.

The data development involves energy assessors visiting the schools and gathering focused information on energy use, building types, age, and size along with an overview of general fabric and energy aspects of electrical and mechanical systems energy performance and energy consumption characteristics of each school.

Each school is surveyed by an experienced construction professional who gathers approximately 160 pieces of data, which includes high level building areas, different fabric elements and information about lighting, heating and domestic hot water etc. It also includes questions on building fabric condition.

The data is collected at school block level block being a stand-alone building or a part of the school building that was constructed at a different time from any other part of the building).

The condition of the building fabric is captured across 12 different elements again at school block level. This data is entered on a tablet computer onsite, it is then imported into the Department’s Geographical Information System (GIS) and processed into a relational database, which performs numerous calculations to determine a School Energy and Carbon Estimated Rating (SEACER).

The schools to which the Deputy refers have all had their inspections completed in 2025;

A Department-led prioritisation process will continue over the course of 2026 and 2027 to assess and evaluate the progression of the next phase of projects through the design pipeline. This will involve engagement with key stakeholders and individual schools. The Energy and Condition Survey of the school estate will provide an additional evidence base for assessing priorities once complete.