asked the Minister for Education if she will permit the extension of Lacken Cross vocational school, County Mayo in order to alleviate the deplorable conditions within which students and staff have to work at present.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - County Mayo School Project.
14.
The proposed building project at Lacken Cross vocational school is currently at stage 5, i.e. bills of quantities, of the Department's planning procedures. I am not in a position at present to indicate when the proposed extension will proceed further as the rate at which any such project may advance is dependent on the availability of capital resources and on my Department's other commitments and priorities.
In order to improve the structure of the existing school, my Department approved the replacement of windows and also re-roofing work earlier this year. A proposal from the vocational education committee regarding the heating system is currently under consideration.
I thank the Minister of State for his reply, but his remarks in relation to the making available of a grant for improving doors, windows, heating etc. has an ominous ring to it and it would seem that this project is to be long-fingered. Is the Minister not aware that this school has 250 students and 13 teachers in a remote rural area? We are talking about the replacement of nine very dilapidated prefab buildings by six conventional classrooms. There is an obligation on us to do everything possible to discharge our responsibility to ensure that the next stage, the preparation of the bills of quantities, goes ahead as soon as possible.
I accept the case the Deputy makes but unfortunately this is one of quite a significant number of post-primary schools which have formed a backlog over the past few years. It is not possible to proceed with work on all of them at the same time. Significant progress has been made in the past 18 months, particularly because of the initiative by the Minister towards reducing costs and getting value for State money. However, it is not possible to proceed with all projects and it is necessary to carry out some improvement works.
Would the Minister of State hazard an estimate or a guesstimate as to when stage 4 might be allowed to proceed?
I would not. I am not in the business of "guesstimating".