Schools Building Projects
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-23
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Hildegarde Naughton (FG), Galway West

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter as it gives me the opportunity to outline to the Dáil the current position in relation to the new school building for Scoil Mhuire, Moycullen, County Galway. At the outset, I would like to state that the delivery of this new school building is a significant priority for me and my Department and I know this is school in the Moycullen area is close to the Deputy's heart.
The brief for this major project is to provide a new 16-classroom primary school with additional classrooms for children with special educational needs at the existing site in Moycullen. The board of management has acquired additional land to accommodate the new build. This project is included in my Department's NDP implementation plan and is part of a first tranche of 105 prioritised schools to go to tender or construction in 2026 and 2027. I expect Scoil Mhuire to go to tender in the coming weeks.
As we both know, and the Deputy knows very well, Moycullen is part of the Galway city commuter belt and continues to experience strong population growth due to its proximity to the city and the attractiveness of that area as a residential location for many commuting families. The project supports the Department's objective to ensure sufficient school places in areas of population growth. The additional capacity will allow the school to accommodate projected demographic growth while providing a high-quality environment for teaching and learning.
The project for Scoil Mhuire is being delivered as part of the Department's ADAPT programme. The ADAPT programme uses a professional external project manager to achieve the best possible timeframe for the project through the stages of architectural planning to tender and construction. The project is at the completion of stage 2B of the architectural design process. Stage 2B involves detailed design, securing all statutory approvals and the preparation of tender documentation. Planning permission was secured in May 2023. As I said previously, this project is expected to progress to tender in the coming weeks.
I have visited the school, so I know the fantastic work that is happening there in teaching and learning, as well as the need for a new school. I know the work that Deputy Kyne has put into this, given that it is his local school. We look forward to seeing progress on this over the coming weeks.
Since 2020, the Department of education has provided over €283 million in capital funding for Galway schools. Over this period, a total of 98 schools have been upgraded through the provision of either a new school building, extension, modular accommodation or climate pathfinder projects. Ten school projects to go to tender or construction in 2026 and 2027 were included in the national development plan implementation plan, including Scoil Mhuire, Moycullen. Since 2020, a total of 111 special classes have been sanctioned in Galway, of which 33 were sanctioned this September.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-23/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-23