Vol. 535 No. 1
605 Mr. Creed asked the Minister for Education and Science if his Department has adequate in-house capacity in the area of school building architectural design and associated engineering works; and if not, the proposals he has to contract out some of these works to the private sector; the manner in which this contracting is organised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11417/01]
The recruitment needs in the area of professional and technical support in the planning and building unit of my Department are currently under review.
Most school building projects are designed by private sector 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.
