My Department has recently approved an all-in grant for the provision of additional accommodation for St. Paul's secondary school, Oughterard, County Galway. The funding being provided by my Department for this project is not the usual method of providing grant aid to schools but the result of an agreement reached with the school authority. The background to the project is that my Department was prepared to provide temporary accommodation for the school under the usual terms but the school authority wished to have the accommodation provided in a permanent structure.
The building project is following the Department's standard design team procedures and is currently at Stages 4/5 of architectural planning, that is, detail design contract documents. It is anticipated that the project will proceed to tender when this stage of planning has been completed to the Department's satisfaction. This grant will be paid on production of certificates of practical completion from the consultant architect employed by the school authority.