I want to raise the urgent need to progress the long-awaited school building project for St. John Bosco Junior Boys National School, St. John Bosco Senior Boys National School and Mary, Help of Christians Girls' National School on the Navan Road. These schools have served generations of families in communities on the Navan Road and in Ashtown with distinction, but the reality is that the school buildings have reached the end of their life. Parents, teachers, staff members and past pupils all say the same thing whenever I speak to them. These buildings are outdated, deteriorating and no longer provide the modern learning environment that their children and staff deserve.

These are three distinct schools, but they share a common vision. Rather than simply replacing the existing buildings, they have come together with an ambitious proposal to create one educational campus on the existing site. This project has the potential to be one of the most significant primary school developments in the State. However, the project has been stalled at stage 2a since 2024. It now needs real momentum because this is about more than bricks and mortar.

Through my engagement with families across Dublin 7 and into Dublin 15, I know that many parents feel they have too few options when it comes to choosing schools. This is an area where single-sex provision dominates and many families have gone without the suitable option of co-educational schooling. This is not just my opinion; the Department's recent primary school survey confirms it. The survey looked at educational provision through co-education and through multidenominational provision and through the medium of Irish. Some 73% of parents who responded across these three schools supported co-educational provision across Cabra, Phibsborough and Dublin 7, which is their school planning area. Support rose to almost 89% among households with children currently in primary school. The results are striking. In Mary, Help of Christians, 96 out of 140 respondents supported co-education. In St. John Bosco Senior Boys National School, it was 100 out of 131, which is 76%. In the junior national school, 46 out of 60 or 77% supported co-education.

Following the publication of the survey results, I understand that the Department intends to engage with boards of management to discuss the findings and consider the future configuration of schools. I also understand that boards of management have been asked to engage with parents, staff, patrons and the wider community, and to notify the patron and the Department by the end of October as to whether they want to put these results into action. Engagement is welcome. I understand that if about 50% of the school population participated in the survey, schools may want to engage further to bring the whole school community with them. This gives them the timeline to do that.

We have a real opportunity here. There is an appetite for change. That is not just clear in the survey but when I speak to families at their doors, which we are privileged to be able to do when we are canvassing. I have two questions. First, what practical supports will the Department provide to schools that decide they wish to move towards co-educational provision while remaining on the existing campus where they have three separate schools? Is the Department working to a timeline? Second, could the Minister of State assure me that this building project is being actively prioritised and that the design process will be sufficiently flexible to accommodate co-educational provision?

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter and giving me the opportunity, on behalf of the Minister for Education and Youth, to outline to the Dáil the current position in relation to the joint school project for St. John Bosco Junior Boys School, St. John Bosco Senior Boys School and Mary, Help of Christians Girls' National School in Dublin 7.

This joint school building project will deliver two new 16-classroom primary schools with additional classrooms for children with special educational needs for both the senior boys' school and the girls' school and a new 11-classroom primary school with additional classrooms for children with special education needs for the junior boys' school.

Initially, it had been anticipated that this joint project would be delivered in the form of an extension and refurbishment. However, due to a scope change to include an increase in classrooms for children with special educational needs, it was decided that new school buildings would be provided. The design team submitted the initial stage 1 report in April 2023 and following the submission of an addendum report in August 2023, the project was approved to the next stage. The design team submitted their stage 2a submission report in January 2024.

Upon review, some key concerns were identified by Department officials. From January 2024 to May 2025, there was significant communication between the design team and the Department to discuss and assist in progressing the stage 2a submission to include a review and audit of the floor area schedules to refine some design elements to meet the approved schedule of accommodation.

Upon receipt of the revised stage 2a report, Department officials carried out an initial review. In early June 2025, a further meeting was held with the wider design team, school authorities and Department officials in attendance. At that meeting, the school was provided with a progress update and advised that the design team were due to submit an addendum stage 2a report to the Department. The outstanding information for the addendum stage 2a report was received by the Department officials on 31 October 2025 and is currently under review by them. They visited the school on Friday 27 March 2026 and discussed potential options for a solution with the school authorities. Further discussions were held on 18 June. Department officials will continue to engage and update the school authorities of progress regarding these decisions. In June, the Department issued primary schools with their school-specific patronage survey results and explanatory information, marking the next stage in the process of engaging school communities on the future direction of their schools. Where the survey shows demand for change, boards of management have the opportunity to consider being included in the first group of schools to action the survey results. Schools have been asked to inform the Department and their patron by 31 October 2026 should the school wish to be included in this first group of schools to action the primary school survey results.

This is not simply about replacing old buildings; this is about building a modern educational campus that reflects the needs and the wishes of the families in Dublin 7 and Dublin 15 for generations to come. The community has waited long enough. They deserve a modern school campus and the opportunity to shape the modern provision of education in their area. When we have previously discussed this building project, I have made it clear from the start that it should be an objective that the building be suitable for co-educational provision. That should be in-built into this project. I have had reassurance from the Department that this will be the case. We do not want for a project that has already taken long enough to get to this point to be in any way stalled by progress on co-educational provision. Parents need reassurance today that the Department is ready, willing and able to work with them on providing a new building and that the building will be suitable for the type of education that they want their children to have. What the Minister of State has outlined in relation to the engagement between the school and parents is important. I am confident enough that after that engagement that the parental survey results will still stand because this community wants a new school in a new method of provision.

I agree with the Deputy that this is not refurbishment. In my initial response, I made it clear that this joint school building project will deliver two new 16-classroom primary schools with additional classrooms for children with special educational needs for both the senior boys’ school and the girls’ school and an 11-classroom primary school with additional classrooms for children with special educational needs for the junior boys’ school. I have no information regarding the co-education provision but the Deputy said that she has received assurances and she is happy with them. I will take her at her word.

As part of the NDP implementation plan for the education and youth sector, a first tranche of projects to progress to tender and-or construction during 2026 and 2027 was published in January 2026. Prioritisation will continue to identify further tranches of projects to proceed to tender and construction over the NDP period with stakeholder consultation to commence in June 2026. Our NDP implementation plan will optimise outputs from the NDP allocations with a strong focus on maximising existing school capacity, progressing priority projects where local capacity across schools in an area is insufficient and ensuring delivery that is affordable, offers value for money and meets functional needs. The accommodation needs at St. John Bosco junior boys' school and senior boys' school and Mary Help of Christian Girls' National School will be considered as part of the ongoing overall Department-led prioritisation process in consultation with the school's patron and school authorities.