Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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56. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide an update on the proposed building programme at a school (details supplied); if she will confirm the schedule now being followed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18427/23]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The large scale capital project for the school referred to by the Deputy was recently approved to proceed to Stage 3 - Tender action and award. A tender process can take 8-12 months to complete.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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58. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to provide an update and estimated timeline for a school building project (details supplied); if the tender document for the school has been issued; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18444/23]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I want to assure the Deputy that my Department is working extremely hard to ensure that schools are built as quickly as possible so that children and young people have access to a physical environment where they can receive a high standard of education and feel safe, valued and nurtured. My Department has a strong track record of delivery with over 180 projects delivered last year notwithstanding the high levels of construction inflation. There are circa. 300 school building projects currently at construction which includes 40 new school buildings and 260 projects at existing schools.

The permanent school building project referred to by the Deputy will deliver a 1,000 pupil post-primary school and accommodation, including four classrooms, for children with special educational needs. The project is being delivered under my Department's Design and Build programme.

I can confirm that the project for the school referred to by the Deputy has been approved to proceed to tender. The Invitation to Tender for the project issued on the 18th April 2023 as part of a bundle of projects issued to a Framework of Design & Build Contractors.

My Department looks forward to getting this school building project delivered as quickly as possible and in the meantime will continue to liaise with the school and their Patron Body in relation to interim accommodation needs pending delivery of their permanent accommodation.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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59. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to provide an update and estimated timeline for a school building project (details supplied) to include a detailed schedule of works with proposed completion dates; when the additional temporary accommodation units will be implemented; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18445/23]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The project for the school to which the deputy refers is devolved for delivery to Kildare & Wicklow Educational Training Board (KWETB).

The Brief for this project is to provide an extension to the existing school, the demolition of a section of the building and the refurbishment of some of the existing building.

The building project was recently approved by the Department to proceed to Stage 2b of the architectural planning process and the next step for the Design Team will be to obtain the statutory planning approvals.

To address the accommodation needs at the school, the Department has approved additional modular accommodation. The Planning and Building Unit will keep the school’s accommodation needs under review.

At this stage it is not possible to provide details or a timeline for completion of the project, KWETB will be engaging directly with the school authority to keep it informed of progress.