Deputy John McGuinness' question to the Minister for Education and Youth regarding the Kilkenny City Vocational School and Coláiste Pobail Osraí development

Question:

Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will confirm the status of the development of the Kilkenny Schools Campus site; if the funding of €5 million announced by the previous Minister will be confirmed; if the project will be approved for the next phase of the development given that at the end of 2025, the enabling works were substantially completed with utilities awaiting final connection; if the tender report for pre-qualification of construction contractors has been submitted to her Department for sanction; her Department are awaiting adjudication of the project by the NTMA; the KCETB are now the legal owner of the Kilkenny Schools Campus site and €3.5 million has already been spent on the site; and if she will make a statement on the matter.

Ministers' reply:

The school buildings project to which the Deputy refers Kilkenny City Vocational School and Coláiste Pobail Osraí have been devolved to the Kilkenny and Carlow Education and Training Board (KCETB) for delivery as part of a single campus development.

The approved brief for Coláiste Pobail Osraí provides for a new post-primary school building with a long-term projected enrolment of 400 pupils.

The approved brief for Kilkenny City Vocational School provides for a new post-primary school building with a long-term projected enrolment of 550 pupils, including a 2-classroom SEN provision.

The project is currently at Stage 2b of the architectural planning process, which encompasses detailed design, securing the necessary statutory permissions, and the preparation of tender documentation.

The department recently published the €7.55 billion NDP Sectoral Investment Plan for the Education and Youth Sectors for the period 2026 to 2030. This 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 rollout.

Of the total €7.55 billion investment it is envisaged that circa. €5 billion will be used for project rollout to support the delivery and modernisation of school buildings across the Large Scale, Additional Accommodation, Modular, and Annual September Accommodation Needs programmes. Over the course of 2026 and 2027 there will be construction work at circa. 10% of the school estate. These projects will, when completed, provide circa 57,000 additional and modernised school places with a strong SEN focus in all projects.

The department will continue to build on the progress made over recent years with the continued rollout of projects on a prioritised basis to meet the most urgent needs in terms of provision of additional capacity and modernisation of existing facilities. In this regard, the department have also published a list of the 105 school building projects in the first tranche to proceed to construction or tender over 2026 and 2027.

These projects are in addition to €207.11 million in capital funding for Kilkenny schools between 2020 and 2025. Over that period, a total of 43 Kilkenny schools have been upgraded either through provision of a new school building, a large-scale extension or provision of modular accommodation. There are also currently 5 school projects in Kilkenny under construction.

The first tranche of 105 school building projects includes 80 large scale and Additional School Accommodation scheme projects. These projects were prioritised with a strong focus on maximising existing capacity and prioritising project rollout to meet the most urgent needs particularly to support special education needs provision.

Firstly, to facilitate the 45 projects that are currently already at tender stage (Stage 3) so that they can progress to construction as smoothly as possible over the course of 2026 and 2027. Secondly, to facilitate 35 projects that currently have planning permission and are at pre-tender stage (Stage 2b) and have been prioritised to meet urgent requirements from a special needs perspective or to provide additional capacity to cater for demographics or to address very significant condition issues at the schools.

The department recognises that there are schools with important building projects that are not included in the first tranche of prioritised projects.

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 rollout 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. The accommodation needs of the schools referred to by the Deputy will be considered as part of the ongoing overall department-led prioritisation process, in consultation with the school’s patron and school authorities.