Schools Building Projects
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-20
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Robert Troy (FF), Longford-Westmeath

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter as it gives me the opportunity to update the House on the current position regarding the school building project for Coláiste Daibhéid, Cork. The project referred to by the Deputy was approved to enter the Department's pipeline for a project under the additional school accommodation scheme. The project will provide one multimedia room, one textiles room, one graphics room, one construction room, one technology prep area, one science laboratory, and prep area and one project store. The inclusion of a PE hall or general purpose dining hall depends on site feasibility, constraints and input from the local authority and heritage officer. The delivery of this project has been devolved to Cork Education and Training Board.
The stage 1 report outlining the proposed design and costings was submitted to the Department in July 2025. This is currently under review from both a technical and cost perspective in accordance with the requirements of the public spending code. Once the review is completed, the outcome will be communicated to Cork Education and Training Board which will continue to engage directly with the school authorities to keep them fully informed of progress. The Department is committed to ensuring appropriate accommodation is available for all school pupils and will, in the wider context outlined, ensure that each school project on the school building programme is subject to the due diligence required under the public infrastructure guidelines.
In July 2025, the Government announced a capital allocation of €7.55 billion for the Department of Education and Youth for the period 2026-2030 under the national development plan. As part of this NDP allocation the 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 roll-out 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 to meet the most urgent and prioritised needs.
The NDP implementation plan for the education and youth sector and the first tranche of projects to progress to construction will be published by the Department shortly.
The plan will optimise outputs from the NDP allocations, with a strong focus on maximising existing school capacity, progressing priority projects where local capacity across schools in an area is insufficient and ensuring delivery that is affordable, offers value for money and meets functional needs.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-20/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:31+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-20