Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 March 2018
288. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Education and Skills the projects mentioned in the National Development Plan 2018-2027 that come under his Department's remit or bodies under its aegis; and the estimated completion dates for each project in tabular form. [12988/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe National Development Plan (NDP) 2018 to 2027 includes a number of key investment envelopes for the education sector as follows:
- School building programme: €8.4 billion
- Digital Strategy for Schools: €420 million
- Higher Education Infrastructure: €2.2 billion (excluding PPPs)
- FET capital: €300 million
The purpose of the plan is to set out an overarching framework for public capital investment. It is not a detailed blueprint of how and where funding will be spent. The significance of the NDP is that it provides a level of funding visibility to Departments over a 10 year period that enables proper planning, appraisal and prioritisation to take place
In the schools sector, the funding will allow a continued focus on the generation of new permanent school places to keep pace with demographic demand. The new funding under the NDP will also provide an additional focus on refurbishment of the existing school stock, to include:
- Upgrade of labs to support modernisation of science curricula
- Build and modernisation of PE facilities in post-primary schools
- Commencement of deep energy retrofit of schools built prior to 2008
In the higher education sector, funding will support both new buildings and upgrade of the existing stock. A PPP programme planned for the higher education sector will deliver expanded capacity across 11 Institutes of Technology. The first projects in this programme are expected to become operational in the 2021/22 academic year.
In the Further Education and Training (FET) sector, the €300m funding envelope will facilitate the initiation of a building programme from 2020, focused on the consolidation of provision in modern, fit for purpose facilities. Funding will also support the capital costs associated with expansion and modernisation of apprenticeships.
