Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 April 2024
427. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Education the annual capital budget for schools in each of the years 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and to date in 2024; and her views that this allocation is keeping pace with housing allocation and to keep pace with population increase. [14005/24]
View answerSince 2020, my Department has invested in the region of €4.5 billion in our schools throughout the country, involving the completion of over 800 school building projects with construction currently underway at approximately 300 other projects, which includes 31 new school buildings.?
These 300 projects currently at construction involve a total State investment of over €1.2bn.? There are also circa 90 projects currently at the tender stage including a further 28 new school buildings.? All these new school buildings are flagship projects in their area and transform the education infrastructure for those school communities.?
This is a record level of investment in our schools and highlights the Government’s very strong track record of delivery in providing additional capacity and modern facilities for our school communities.?
The key drivers of capital investment in the school's sector include:?
• demographic growth, particularly at post primary level?
• increased demand for special educational needs provision?
• alignment of school place provision with new housing development?
• climate action objectives including deep energy retrofit.??
Given the impact of housing development on school place requirements, the Department closely monitors residential construction activity and factors this into our forward planning approach. We engage closely with local authorities on development plans. Schools are essential to the development of sustainable communities. Our approach is to maximise the use of existing capacity in the school estate and, in tandem with this, to progress our pipeline of projects to deliver additional capacity where required.
The Department is very appreciative of the ongoing support provided by Government for our education budget, including supplementary funding provided over recent years to support our strong programme delivery. As part of the recent review of NDP allocations, agreement was secured on new medium term capital allocations to facilitate continued programme rollout. The Department’s capital allocations for 2025 and 2026 have been confirmed at €1.3 billion.
Below is the table showing NDP allocations and outturns (including supplementary funding) for the years 2020 to 2024.
|
- |
2020 (€m) |
2021 (€m) |
2022 (€m) |
2023 (€m) |
2024 (€m) |
|
NDP Allocation |
745 |
740 |
792 |
860 |
940 |
|
Outturn (including approved supplementary funding) |
925 |
989 |
1,121 |
1,264 |
