Schools Building Projects
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-19
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Marian Harkin (IND), Sligo-Leitrim

Once again, I thank the Deputy for providing me with the opportunity, on behalf of the Minister for education, to outline the position in relation to Gaelscoil Chluain Dolcáin. The Deputy asked me to refer this to the Minister on his behalf. I can promise that I will certainly do so because I can see that it is an issue of real concern, for the Deputy and, I presume, many of his constituents. I will do that.
The Deputy will be aware that the Minister, Deputy Naughton, recently published the €7.55 billion NDP sectoral investment plan for the education and youth sectors. Of the total €7.55 billion investment, it is envisaged that circa €5 billion will be used for project roll-out to support the delivery and modernisation of school buildings across the large-scale additional accommodation and modular programmes. The Deputy will appreciate that the Department is required to ensure that the capital funding allocated to the Department is managed across all schools in the country. Indeed, a significant project has been approved for the school in question and will shortly be available for the school's use.
As previously stated, Department officials remain available to work school authorities. That is what the Deputy is asking here, and I can tell him that is what it says in the response.
They will provide support in any arrangements required to implement the decision regarding their new accommodation.
Finally, I assure the Deputy that the accommodation demands and enrolment pressures of both the schools in question, as well as the wider school area planning, will be kept under ongoing review by the Department. As he will be aware, the project brief for this campus project includes construction of two new adjoining 16-classroom primary schools, with a PE hall for a separate post-primary school on a shared campus. I note the most recent nationwide demographic analysis I spoke of earlier was completed in 2023.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-19/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:45+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-19