2026-02-04

I want to bring to the attention of the Minister of State the urgent situation affecting St. Joseph's Secondary School, Rush, Gaelscoil Ros Eo and the Rush education campus in my constituency in Dublin Fingal West with regard to the recent allocation of funding for schools building. While I understand projects that were fully documented as complete were eligible, it looks like it will take six to eight weeks before the tender is ready to go for the Rush education campus. That is six to eight weeks where children will continue to learn in overcrowded and outdated classrooms. Once the tender is committed, I urge the Minister of State to have it considered promptly and to give it the priority it deserves prior to the next tranche of funding, which I believe is in 2028. St. Joseph's and Gaelscoil Ros Eo serve one of the youngest populations in the country and one of the fastest growing towns. The need for an education campus in Rush is immediate. We are not talking about planning for some distant future. Rather, we are talking about children today learning in buildings that are no longer fit for purpose. I worked in one of them, so I know that parts of them are more prefab than school at this point. The site for the Rush education campus is ready to go. It is procured and the planning permission has been given. There are no obstacles to starting construction other than funding and political commitment. This project was promised and can be delivered if we act decisively. I am hoping that the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, will help secure the necessary funding so that children can finally have a safe, modern and suitable environment for learning. This is more than bricks and mortar - it is an investment in the future of the children in the north county, in our town and in our community. Every day of the week, the children continue to learn in inadequate conditions. We owe them to act now to ensure they have the education they deserve in the environment that they need. I urge the Minister of State to give the project the priority it deserves and to commit to seeing it through without further delay. St. Joseph's and Gaelscoil Ros Eo, the students - some of whom were my students - and their parents cannot wait any longer.

I thank Deputy O'Donoghue for the question. I will update the Deputy and the House on the current situation regarding the building project for St. Joseph's Secondary School and Gaelscoil Ros Eo in Rush, County Dublin. The delivery of this campus project has been devolved to Catholic Education, an Irish Schools Trust, CEIST. The brief for St. Joseph’s Secondary School includes the provision of a 1,000-pupil post-primary school, including a four-classroom special education base. The brief for Gaelscoil Ros Eo includes the delivery of a 16-classroom primary school with one special education base. The project is currently at stage 2b of the architectural design process. This stage allows for detailed design and planning, obtaining the necessary statutory permissions, and the preparation of tender documents. Planning has been granted, and CEIST has advised that the stage 2b report is currently ongoing. Once the stage 2b report has been received by the Department, it will undergo a detailed technical and cost review in line with public spending code. Managing timing, scope and cost is crucial to staying within budgetary limits for the overall programme. The Department recently published the €7.55 billion national development plan sectoral investment plan for the education and youth sectors for the period 2026 to 2030. This plan involves a very strong emphasis on maximising existing capacity and prioritisation of school building projects to meet the most urgent needs. There will be a strong special education dimension to projects being roll out. Of the €7.55 billion investment, it is envisaged that circa €5 billion will be used for projects to roll out the support, 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 some 10% of the school estate nationwide. These projects will, when completed, provide an extra 57,000 additional and modernised school places with a strong focus on special education in all of the projects. It is important to acknowledge and understand that, going forward, we are going to put fierce emphasis in all projects, both at primary and post-primary levels, that they encompass special education as well. The Department will continue to build on the progress made over recent years and will continue to roll out projects on a prioritisation basis to meet the urgent needs in the provision of additional capacity and modernisation of existing buildings. In this regard, the Department has also published a list of 105 school building projects in the first tranche to proceed to construction or tender over the coming years. I recognise schools with important building projects 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 coming years to assess and evaluate the progress of individual projects through the design pipeline having regard to the continuing need to maximise existing capacity and determine the prioritised need going forward. This process will involve engagement with key stakeholders and individual schools. The accommodation needs at St Joseph's Secondary School and Gaelscoil Ros Eo will be considered as part of the ongoing overall Department-led prioritisation process in consultation with the school authorities and patron into the future. I assure the Deputy we are well aware of the challenges there and of the growing need within the community as it expands.

It is nice to see the accommodation of St. Joseph's and the Gaelscoil will be considered as part of the ongoing overall Department-led prioritisation process. The people of Rush are looking for a commitment that the project will keep being progressed once the tender documents are delivered to the Department, which will be in a matter of weeks. The campus will not have to wait until the next tranche, should that be 2028, to fund a school that is oversubscribed and outdated. Will the Minister of State give me an indication on when the next tranche might be released? I believe the Tánaiste is visiting Dublin Fingal West later in the week. I would be happy to bring him around the school and show him the plight of my ex-students and the children of Rush should he be interested. We have spoken about it before in here.

I understand this is the Deputy's former school where he has taught, so he knows first-hand the challenges being faced in the school communities there. He has outlined it in his opening remarks. I reassure the Deputy that the project is at stage 2B and CEIST has advised that the stage 2B report is ongoing. It is important there is no delay at any stage. The Deputy outlined the issue with prefabricated buildings. We have had a huge investment across the education sector over the past number of years and into the future. Education is so important for the future of our students and our country and the students going to this school. The Deputy outlined the population growth in the community there. They are matters that will be taken into account. I reassure him that when the documentation is lodged with the Department we will give it the urgent attention it needs. There will be back and forth on the ongoing issues between the school authorities and the patron bodies on this project. It is important right across the country but particularly in growing areas. We understand the need of both St. Joseph's and the Gaelscoil with regard to this project. I am taking this on behalf of Hildegarde Naughton, who is the senior Minister dealing with school projects. I assure the Deputy that I will press on her the urgency he has outlined in the Dáil. We will continue to work with it, not just tonight but I assure him we will continue to work. It is important that we are notified when the documentation is lodged with the Department from CEIST, the patron body. It is important that information is brought to us, and we can assure that we will work with it in a timely fashion, because these are important projects for every school community.