The Government has revealed plans for the rollout of the next phase of the Department for Education's school building programme.

It is planned that close to 90 school building projects currently at tender stage will be authorised to proceed to construction over the course of 2024 and early 2025.

These projects will upgrade schools with modernised facilities to accommodate the increasing student populations in respective areas. This initiative includes the addition of 138 specialised classrooms tailored to meet the educational needs of children with special needs, which is a key priority for the Government.

A total of around €800 million will be invested in these projects under the department's Large Scale Capital Programme and Additional Accommodation Scheme for essential classroom accommodation.

Minister for Education Norma Foley TD, said: "This is a record level of investment in school buildings. It will expand the number of school places, significantly increase provision for special education and upgrade and modernise our school infrastructure. The impact of this will be felt in communities right around the country."

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Since 2020, the Department of Education has invested around €4.5 billion in schools throughout the country. Around 800 school building projects have been completed and 300 other projects are under construction. The projects moving into the construction phase will add in the region of 200,000 m2 of additional and modernised permanent capacity across the school estate and involve 28 new school buildings and 61 extensions at existing buildings.

The level of construction recognises the Government's emphasis on investing in education. Recently reviewed allocations for the Department of Education have included new medium-term capital funds as part of the National Development Plan.

In the next phase of the school building programme, individual school building projects will be authorised to proceed to construction subject to assessment of tender reports and relevant due diligence by the department's Planning and Building Unit in line with the Government's Infrastructure Guidelines.

The ongoing school building projects represent a significant State investment exceeding €1.2 billion. The majority of these projects are scheduled for completion in 2024 and 2025. This level of investment sets a new record and highlights the department's exceptional track record in improving capacity and providing modern facilities for our school communities.

The department's intends to maximise the usage of existing capacity in the school estate and to manage the progression of the existing pipeline of projects within available budgets and in line with the Government’s Infrastructure Guidelines. This enables the department to keep a strong focus on the provision of additional capacity to cater for demographics, new housing developments and the rollout of additional special classes for children with additional needs. The department's Modular Accommodation Programme is also used to provide additional capacity in the school estate to meet urgent requirements.