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Schools Building Projects

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 January 2011

Tuesday, 18 January 2011

Questions (85, 86, 87, 88, 89)

Leo Varadkar

Question:

132 Deputy Leo Varadkar asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills when work will commence on the extension and sports hall for a school (details supplied) in Dublin 15; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2425/11]

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Written answers

The project to which the Deputy refers is currently at an advanced stage of architectural planning. The design team lodged the planning application with the Local Authority in November last and have submitted applications for Fire Certificate and Disability Access Certificate (DAC). On receipt of the necessary statutory approvals the design team will complete and submit their stage 2(b) report to my Department for technical review. Assuming no issues arise, it is envisaged that the project will then progress to tender and construction.

Leo Varadkar

Question:

133 Deputy Leo Varadkar asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills when work will commence on the extension and sports hall for a school (details supplied) in Dublin 15; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2426/11]

View answer

The project to which the Deputy refers is currently at tender stage. Upon receipt of the tender report from the Board of Management and assuming that no issues arise, the project will be authorised to proceed to construction. It is anticipated that the project will commence construction in the second quarter of 2011.

Leo Varadkar

Question:

134 Deputy Leo Varadkar asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills when work will commence on the new school buildings for an organisation (details supplied) in Dublin 15; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2427/11]

View answer

The project to which the Deputy refers is at an advanced stage of the tender process. Subject to no issues arising, it is anticipated that construction will commence shortly.

Leo Varadkar

Question:

135 Deputy Leo Varadkar asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills when she will lodge a planning application for permanent school buildings for a school (details supplied) in Dublin 15; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2428/11]

View answer

As the Deputy may be aware, it is intended to provide a 1,000 pupil permanent post primary school on a permanent site for the school to which the Deputy refers. Fingal County Council are leading the negotiations in relation to the acquisition of a site for the school in question, at my Department's request, in accordance with the Fingal Model Agreement. Fingal County Council have advised the Department that the elected members have formally approved the disposal of the site to the Department and contracts are awaited. In the meantime, the school is operating in temporary accommodation on an existing VEC site. The Department recently received an application for the rental of additional temporary accommodation to meet the school's anticipated needs for September 2011 and this application will shortly be assessed.

The progression of all large scale building projects, including this project, from initial design stage through to construction phase will be considered in the context of my Department's multi-annual School Building and Modernisation Programme. However, in light of current competing demands on the capital budget of the Department, it is not possible to give an indicative timeframe for the progression of the project at this time.

Ruairí Quinn

Question:

136 Deputy Ruairí Quinn asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills if she will explain the rationale behind her decision to permanently purchase prefabricated classrooms at a school (details supplied) in County Dublin; the cost of this transaction; the arrangements in place for the construction of permanent proper classroom facilities at this school; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2429/11]

View answer

As the Deputy is aware, my Department's review of policies and procedures for the provision of temporary classroom accommodation is well underway. The review incorporates the development of standard specifications for temporary accommodation, the development of new contractual terms to incorporate buy-out and relocation options to cater for individual local circumstances and appropriately protect the interests of the Department and school authorities. Another strand of the review is negotiations with prefab suppliers to buy out existing rental contracts or reductions in annual rent, as appropriate. An initial group of schools with rented prefabricated accommodation, including the school referred to by the Deputy, has been identified for priority negotiations with suppliers to buy out existing rental contracts.

The focus of this review is the development and adoption of practical measures and policies to achieve best value for money in the area of temporary accommodation in schools. The selection criteria for buy-out options have identified schools where lengthy and/or costly rental contracts exist. Officials from my Department visited the school in question in October 2010 and examined the prefabs being rented. On 29th November 2010 the school authorities were informed that my Department had decided to purchase the rented accommodation as it provided better value for money for my Department. The school were also advised that the purchase of the rented accommodation would not affect the school's application for a permanent extension which has been assigned a band rating of 2.4.

I would like to assure the Deputy that the school's application for an extension will continue to be considered for progression through the School Building and Modernisation Programme. In light of current competing demands on the capital budget of the Department, it is not possible to give an indicative timeframe for the progression of that project at this time. As negotiations are on-going on the buy-out of other school rental contracts, the cost of the buy out of the rental contract at the school in question cannot be provided as this information is commercially sensitive.

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