I thank the Deputy for raising this matter as it gives me the opportunity, on behalf of the Minister for Education and Youth, to outline to the Dáil the current position in relation to the school building project for St. Mary's Oldtown, County Dublin. This project was approved to enter the Department of Education and Youth’s pipeline under the additional school accommodation scheme and is devolved for delivery to the school authority. The project will provide three mainstream classrooms, one special education tuition room and a two-classroom special educational needs base. The project is currently at stage 2a, detailed design, of the architectural design process. The stage 2a report has been submitted to the Department and is currently under review from both a technical and cost perspective. All projects, including this one, are subject to the full due diligence requirements set out in the Department’s infrastructure guidelines. Although this project is not within the first tranche of school building projects recently published in the NDP sectoral investment plan, it remains part of the Department’s overall pipeline of school building projects. The NDP sectoral plan involves a very strong emphasis on maximising existing capacity and prioritisation of school building projects to meet the most urgent needs. In this regard, there will be a strong special education dimension to the project roll-out. The Department will continue to build on the progress made over recent years by continuing to roll out projects on a prioritised basis to meet the most urgent needs in terms of provision of additional capacity and modernisation of existing facilities. As part of planning ahead for the next tranche of projects to progress to tender, the Department-led prioritisation process will continue over the course of 2026 and 2027 in order to assess and evaluate the progression of individual projects through the design pipeline, having regard to the continual need to maximise existing capacity and determine the prioritised needs going forward. This process will involve engagement with key stakeholders and individual schools and will ultimately inform the next tranches of programme roll-out to tender. The Department-led energy and condition survey of the school estate, which will be finalised later in 2026, will provide an additional evidence base for assessing priorities. Based on the ongoing prioritisation process, some projects may be added to the list over the course of 2026 and 2027, having regard to their prioritisation and urgency of need, and taking account of the ongoing ability to progress them to tender and construction within the parameters of overall funding. Where appropriate, the Department will also assess opportunities to undertake advance enabling works for the most urgent and complex projects to facilitate a smooth progression to construction in 2028 and beyond. Any interim accommodation requirements will continue to be assessed and considered by the Department on a case-by-case basis to determine the prioritised needs and approach for addressing same.
Sentiment score: 0.38
Deputy O'Donoghue will appreciate that I am answering on behalf of my colleague. He has made a strong and compelling case for additional works at this school in the very near future. We were all disappointed when the announcement was made some months ago if schools that we articulate on behalf of in our respective constituencies were excluded. The amount of resources is always finite, so there has to be prioritisation. From my perspective, and even from the Deputy’s perspective, I am happy to see in this reply that the Department is not cutting out the possible inclusion of other schools depending on the need in 2026 and 2027. It is helpful that it allows for the opportunity for enabling works to be done that would allow it to go to construction in 2028. To me, that indicates a Department that is willing to work with the school authorities to ensure that any additional works that can be done in 2026 and 2027 will be done, which is welcome. There is also an acknowledgement that, at a time of resource constraints, it may be possible to do enabling works so that shovels are ready to hit the ground in 2028. The Deputy has made a case on behalf of the school in question. I undertake to relay what he has said to the Minister, Deputy Naughton.
Sentiment score: 0.31
I am taking this matter on behalf of Deputy Michael Moynihan, Minister of State at the Department of Education and Youth, who sends his apologies because he cannot be here today. I thank the Deputy for raising the matter and giving me the opportunity to outline the Department of Education and Youth’s plans to address the accommodation needs for Gorey Hill School. Gorey Hill School is one of four special schools established for the 2024-25 school year. The school operates under the patronage of Waterford and Wexford Education and Training Board, ETB. The school currently supports 37 young people aged between four and 18 who have a diagnosis of autism and-or complex learning needs, with a professional recommendation requiring the support of a special school setting. The staffing comprises an administrative principal, administrative deputy principal, seven class teachers and 18 special needs assistants, together with ten post primary co-operation hours per week. The school is based in a Department-owned school property in Gorey. Surplus capacity in the building was repurposed to make it suitable for special school purposes and to facilitate the opening of the new school. The repurposing project was delivered under the Department’s special educational needs reconfiguration and modular accommodation programme, which facilitated the school opening as quickly as possible. The programme involves the use of project management supports which is designed to enable the accommodation to be provided as quickly as possible and help ease the administrative workload for school authorities in relation to the management and delivery of projects. This is a collaborative process between the project manager, school authority and the Department of Education and Youth. The property provides an opportunity to facilitate a co-location arrangement with other schools, which is consistent with the Department’s approach of maximising existing capacity and enabling local unmet needs for special school places to be met. The school is now at capacity and additional accommodation is required to facilitate further enrolments. The site at Gorey provides a good location for expanding capacity with a permanent modular extension for the school. The Department of Education and Youth regards the current repurposed school building as the permanent location for Gorey Hill School. It is intended that the permanent capacity at the school will be expanded through the provision of the proposed modular accommodation project. This detail is currently being worked through and the Department is engaging with Waterford and Wexford ETB during this process. The modular accommodation framework is a key part of the Department’s strategy for the provision of good quality functional accommodation to meet the permanent accommodation requirements for prioritised individual schools. Between 2020 and 2025, the Department of Education and Youth has provided €174.6 million in capital funding for Wexford schools. Over this period, a total of 58 schools have been upgraded either through provision of a new school building, a large-scale extension or provision of modular accommodation. There are currently seven school projects in Wexford under construction. One school project will go to tender or construction in 2026-27, and this summer, eight schools are approved to undergo works as part of the summer works scheme. In addition, since 2020, a total of 80 special classes have been opened in Wexford, ten of which were sanctioned for September next. Budget 2026 has secured funding for 3,000 new specialist places and the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, is currently examining where these places are best located for the 2026-27 academic year.
Sentiment score: 0.32
That is fine. I reiterate that it was very welcome and helpful that he arranged a visit by the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, to the school, where he saw first hand the challenges that are there. The challenge is to ensure the additional demand is met with additional capacity in a timely way as well. The one point I will have taken from the original reply is that there is ongoing engagement between the education and training board and the Department to ensure we can meet that demand, while at the same time not compromising the facilities that are currently there. I will bring the Deputy's message back to the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, loud and clear that the consultation needs to continue but also needs to conclude in a timely fashion to enable that modular unit to be delivered, increasing capacity for the children with special educational needs. Ultimately, that is what we need to do. We need to ensure that children who have special needs have the opportunity to attend school in their own locality rather than being transferred for miles, because that is not in anybody's interests either.
Sentiment score: 0.54
I thank the Deputies for raising this matter. I am taking it on behalf of the Minister for Education and Youth. I know that Deputy McAuliffe has engaged directly with the Taoiseach on this but it is very positive to see such cross-party support on an issue. The school was approved to enter the Department's pipeline for a project under the additional school accommodation scheme, ASA. The project will provide 15 general classrooms, five special education tuition rooms, a two-classroom special educational needs base, one music room, one multimedia room, one art room, one construction studies room, one technology prep room, two project stores, two science labs, one prep area, one design-computer graphics room, and ancillary services. The project was devolved to the school authority for delivery. This project is currently at stage 2B. The stage 2B report was submitted to the Department in January of this year and is currently undergoing a comprehensive technical and cost review. All projects, including this one, are subject to the full due diligence requirements set out in the Department’s infrastructure guidelines. Although this project is not within the first tranche of school building projects recently published in the NDP sectoral investment plan, it remains part of the Department’s overall pipeline of school building projects. The NDP sectoral plan involves a very strong emphasis on maximising existing capacity and prioritisation of school building projects to meet the most urgent needs. In this regard, there will be a strong special education dimension to project roll-out. The Department will continue to build on the progress made over recent years with the continued roll-out of projects on a prioritised basis to meet the most urgent needs in terms of provision of additional capacity and modernisation of existing facilities. As part of planning ahead for the next tranche of projects to progress to tender, the Department-led prioritisation process will continue over the course of 2026 and 2027 to assess and evaluate the progression of individual projects through the design pipeline, having regard to the continual need to maximise existing capacity and determine the prioritised needs going forward. This process will involve engagement with key stakeholders and individual schools and will ultimately inform the next tranches of programme roll-out to tender. The Department-led energy and condition survey of the school estate, which will be finalised later in 2026, will provide an additional evidence base for assessing priorities. Based on this ongoing prioritisation process, some projects may be added to the list over the course of 2026 and 2027, having regard to their prioritisation and urgency of need and taking account also of the ongoing ability to progress them to tender and construction within the parameters of overall funding. Where appropriate, the Department will also assess opportunities to undertake advance enabling works for the most urgent and complex projects to facilitate a smooth progression to construction in 2028 and beyond. Any interim accommodation requirements will continue to be assessed and considered by the Department on a case-by-case basis to determine the prioritised needs and approach for addressing same.
Sentiment score: 0.37
I thank the three Deputies again for giving me an opportunity to update the House regarding the accommodation at St Aidan's CBS Whitehall. 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 under the school building programme is subject to due diligence required under the Government's infrastructure guidelines. The Deputies made a very strong case for the school this evening. Deputy McAuliffe has confirmed what was said at the committee today. It is possible for additional schools to be included in 2626 and 2027. I assure Deputy Ellis that it is no less relevant that I am taking the debate this evening. I will relay the strong points that the Deputies have made this evening to my colleague the Minister, Deputy Naughton, to reinforce the message that this school has a priority to be included in 2026-27. Even for those that are not included in that, the Department is looking at ways to ensure that enabling works can be done so that when a further tranche of money becomes available in 2028, further schools will be added at that stage. The Department has been as flexible as it can be to ensure the maximum amount of construction work happens in 2026, 2027 and on into 2028. The Deputies have made compelling cases this evening for St. Aidan's and I undertake to bring that back to the Minister, Deputy Naughton, on foot of their representations here in the House.
Sentiment score: 0.37