€35.5m unspent as building regulations delay school projects

New building regulations and local planning appeals have delayed dozens of major school building projects this year.

The issues were a factor in €35.5m of Education Minister Jan O’Sullivan’s schools capital budget going unspent this year. However, she told TDs on Wednesday that the funding has already been transferred to ongoing works at third-level colleges.

The Department of Education said several large-scale school building projects experienced delays on the introduction of new Building Control (Amendment) Regulations 2014, and as a result of third-party planning appeals.