To ask the Minister of Education to detail any actions he has taken following the Northern Ireland Audit Report into Managing the Schools' Estate, November 2024.

I welcome the report by the Northern Ireland Audit Office on my Department’s approach to Managing the School’s Estate.

While officials are working on how best to implement the various recommendations, this report leaves no doubt that the schools’ estate is in need of significantly increased and sustained funding to address the many years of underinvestment. We have an estate of over 1,100 schools, many of which are in extremely poor condition.

The report recognises that the Department’s current approach to estate management is largely driven by the level of funding available within a difficult overall financial position. It also recognises that I, as Minister, have agreed a clear vision for the schools’ estate, which is aligned to the Department’s goals. More work is necessary to build on this and develop an Estate Strategy to ensure more effective planning and delivery.

However, the bottom line is my Department can only do so much with the budget made available to it, which means that difficult decisions have been, and will continue to be, necessary and in some cases some things will simply not get done unless the level of funding is significantly increased.