Under Project Ireland 2040, the education sector will receive a total of approximately €4.4 billion capital investment over the period 2021-2025. This significant investment allows us to move forward with certainty on our ambitious plans and deliver high quality building projects, with a real focus on sustainability, for school communities across Ireland. This investment will build on the good progress being made on adding capacity to cater for demographic changes and provision for children with special educational needs. This investment will also facilitate an increased focus on the modernisation of existing school stock and help transition the school system for an era of net zero carbon by 2050.
My Department has a large pipeline of projects for delivery under the school building programme. The main elements of this pipeline currently involve in excess of 1,200 school building projects for delivery under the Department’s Large Scale and Additional Accommodation Scheme. These projects are currently in progress across the various stages of planning, design, tender and construction.
There are currently in excess of 250 school building projects at construction (on site) with a continuous stream of other projects at or near the tendering stage. Most of which are expected to be either under construction or completed in the period up to 2025.
During the period 2018 to 2021 691 school building projects were completed under the Large Scale Capital Programme (LSCP) and the Additional School Accommodation Scheme (ASA). These projects delivered in excess of 64000 school places. 19 of these projects delivered were in County Kildare; 16 of those were primary schools including one special school and 3 were post-primary school building projects. This strong delivery has been facilitated by the continued operation of the school building projects during the COVID period.
It is anticipated that 150 to 200 school building projects will be completed annually during the 2022 to 2025 period.
As the Deputy is aware the length of time a project takes to deliver depends on a number of factors, including scale and complexity, and is subject to the time it takes to progress through the statutory approval process. There is also always a risk of unforeseen issues giving rise to slippage in the progress of a project through the design, statutory approvals or tendering process. Furthermore, Additional Accommodation projects may differ in the way they progress through the architectural planning process depending on their scope.
Large Scale & Additional Scheme Accommodation (ASA) Projects in north County Kildare:
Roll_Number
|
School_Planning_Area
|
School_Name
|
TYPE
|
Project_Type
|
18644U
|
Celbridge
|
STRAFFAN N S
|
Primary
|
Extension
|
18988G
|
Celbridge
|
ST RAPHAELS SPECIAL SCH
|
Special Education
|
New School Building
|
20257C
|
Celbridge
|
Scoil Naomh Padraig
|
Primary
|
New School Building
|
61661P
|
Celbridge
|
Salesian College
|
Post Primary
|
Extension
|
91614B
|
Celbridge
|
Celbridge Community School
|
Post Primary
|
New School Building
|
20526D
|
Leixlip
|
Leixlip Primary School
|
Primary
|
New School Building
|
70691C
|
Leixlip
|
Confey Community College
|
Post Primary
|
Extension
|
00779U
|
Maynooth
|
PRESENTATION GIRLS PRIMARY SCHOOL
|
Primary
|
Extension
|
17341U
|
Maynooth
|
MAYNOOTH B N S
|
Primary
|
New School Building
|
20292E
|
Maynooth
|
Maynooth Educate Together National School
|
Primary
|
New School Building
|
20527F
|
Maynooth
|
Gaelscoil Ruairí
|
Primary
|
New School Building
|
76554W
|
Maynooth
|
Gael Coláiste Mhaigh Nuad
|
Post Primary
|
New School Building
|
15040T
|
Naas
|
MERCY CONVENT PRIMARY SCHOOL
|
Primary
|
New School Building
|
17254C
|
Naas
|
SCOIL CHORBAIN
|
Primary
|
New School Building
|
19597T
|
Naas
|
AN LINBH IOSA
|
Primary
|
Extension
|
61730I
|
Naas
|
Coláiste Naomh Mhuire
|
Post Primary
|
Extension & Refurbishment
|
76194S
|
Naas
|
Naas Community College
|
Post Primary
|
New School Building
|
20542B
|
Naas
|
Naas Primary School
|
Planned Primary
|
New School Building
|
12998C
|
Prosperous_Clane
|
S N CIANOG NAOFA
|
Primary
|
Extension
|
13902O
|
Prosperous_Clane
|
HEWETSONS N S
|
Primary
|
Extension & Refurbishment
|
19796C
|
Prosperous_Clane
|
ST PATRICKS BNS
|
Primary
|
New School Building
|
70720G
|
Prosperous_Clane
|
St Farnan's Post Primary School
|
Post Primary
|
New School Building
|
91372D
|
Prosperous_Clane
|
Scoil Mhuire Community School
|
Post Primary
|
Extension
|
There are no delays save for:
Hewetsons NS: Prolonged period of time to appoint a design team. Expected to move through next stages efficiently.
St Farnan's Post Primary: Prolonged Stage 1 status due to design implications. Expected to move through next stages efficiently.
Naas Community College: Project now complete. The project suffered delays through Stage 4. The original substantial completion date was 09/08/2021 (firstly delayed until 10/12/2021 due to covid19) and it was completed on 18/02/2022.
Mercy Convent Primary: Construction commenced on site in May 2017. The contract terminated in March 2020. Weatherproofing works to reach substantial completion on the 9th of March 2022. Tenders to issue for contractor to complete the major construction project shortly with a proposed completion date June 2023.
Gaelscoil Ruairí: Prolonged planning process owing to a Request for Further Information. Project currently at tender preparation. No further delays anticipated.
Maynooth Educate Together NS: Delays were incurred due to Covid-19 and site closures in 2020. This delayed the final handover of the project. School was handed over in two phases , phase one delivered 8 classrooms in December 2019 and phase two delivered the remainder of the project in May 2021.
Maynooth BNS: Project completed. Construction commenced on site in December 2020 and the current substantial completion date is August 2022. Delays were due to lack of trade’s people on site due to Covid, weather delay and supply chain disruption. No further delays are anticipated.