Vol. 533 No. 6
448 Mr. McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will consider either recruiting additional engineers, surveyors and architects to deal with the backlog or take on such qualified personnel on secondment from other Departments in view of delays in approving school building projects by his Department. [9680/01]
The recruitment needs in the area of professional and technical support in my Department's planning and building unit are currently under review.
The majority of primary and post-primary building projects being dealt with by my Department are planned by external design teams engaged through the management authorities of the schools.
The rate of progress to construction for large building projects depends on a number of factors in addition to the availability of the appropriate technical and professional staff. Chief among these are the complexity and size of the project, the time required to undertake architectural planning, the volume of other projects being dealt with, the period of time required for the granting of planning permission and obtaining a fire certificate, the availability of funding, the outcome of the tender competition and the procurement, where relevant, of bonds, insurance and tax clearance by prospective contractors.
While every effort is made to expedite the process, the arrangements leading up to the construction of a large number of buildings in accordance with current planning and building regulations are highly labour intensive and time consuming. My Department will continue to review procedures on an ongoing basis with a view to streamlining the school building process to the greatest extent possible.
