Minister McEntee Secures €7.55 Billion in Funding under National Development Plan
- Foilsithe:
- An t-eolas is déanaí:
14,000 school places in special classes and special schools to be Prioritised Large Scale and Additional Accommodation Schemes to Deliver Additional Capacity
The Minister for Education and Youth, Helen McEntee T.D., today announced that she would prioritise investment in special education and school places as part of €7.55 Billion in funding for 2026-2030.
Minister for Education and Youth Helen McEntee TD said:
“I have set a vision to deliver a world-class education service which breaks down barriers and ensures that every child can achieve their full potential. The investment of €7.55 Billion in capital funding will ensure that we can deliver new special schools, and upgrade existing ones. We will provide a record 14,000 school places in special classes and special schools. We will continue to prioritise the delivery of extra spaces in our mainstream schools through the construction of new schools and extensions. Maintenance of the school estate is also an essential element and I intend to ensure that the minor works grant is paid to schools each year. I will now develop an implementation plan which I will publish in the Autumn.”
Minister of State for Special Education and Inclusion Michael Moynihan TD said:
“Along with my colleague Minister McEntee, I am committed to ensuring that every child has a school place that meets their needs. I am particularly conscious of supporting children with additional needs and the NDP funding allocation announced this week will help us to deliver for these children in an integrated and inclusive manner”.
Some key points to note in relation to the NDP funding include the following:
- It will facilitate the completion of circa 300 school building projects currently in construction to deliver over 22,300 school places in new and modernised accommodation across primary, post-primary and special schools. Most of these projects are expected to be completed over the course of 2026 and 2027.
- Its use will place a strong emphasis on supporting children with special educational needs in relation to the annual requirements for special classes and places in special schools through continuing to maximise and re-purpose existing capacity as much as possible and through the provision of modular accommodation where determined necessary by the Department. It is envisaged that this will involve the provision of circa. 14,000 school places in special classes and special schools over the course of the 2026 to 2030 period to meet necessary annual requirements.
- In relation to project rollout for Large-Scale projects and Additional Accommodation Scheme projects, the approach will be to continue to maximise the capacity of the existing school estate as much as possible in the first instance and provide necessary additional capacity through targeted and prioritised project rollout over the course of 2026 to 2030 period to meet the most urgent and prioritised needs.
Further details on the Department of Education and Youth’s capital programme will be published in Autumn 2025.
ENDS
Notes to Editor: The NDP outcome involves an allocation of €7.55bn for the Department of Education & Youth for the 2026 to 2030 period. This equates to an average of €1.51bn per annum with some front-loading in the initial period as set out in the table below:
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Department of Education & Youth - Breakdown of €7.55bn into annual allocations for 2026-2030 period |
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|
2026 |
2027 |
2028 |
2029 |
2030 |
Total |
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|
€bn |
€bn |
€bn |
€bn |
€bn |
€bn |
|
NDP funding allocation |
1.60 |
1.60 |
1.55 |
1.40 |
1.40 |
7.55 |
Each Department is now tasked to develop implementation plans based on their NDP Allocations. Our target will be to have this done and published in the Autumn. This will involve the Department’s Planning & Building Unit undertaking a review and analysis to determine the optimum outputs to be achieved from the €7.55bn allocation with a strong emphasis on maximising existing capacity and in relation to project delivery ensuring a continued focus on affordability, value for money and functionality.