Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 December 2013
245. Deputy Marcella Corcoran Kennedy asked the Minister for Education and Skills when a school (details supplied) in County Offaly will proceed to public tender in view of the fact that planning permission has been granted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54271/13]
View answerThe school building project referred to by the Deputy is at an advanced stage of architectural planning, Stage 2(b) - Detailed Design. Planning permission has been received for the proposed scheme and the school's design team is preparing to lodge applications for the Fire Safety Certificate and the Disability Access Certificate. Once all three statutory approvals have been received, the design team will then complete the tender documents for the project and submit the stage 2(b) report to my Department for approval.
Due to competing demands on the Department's capital budget imposed by the need to prioritise the limited funding available for the provision of additional school accommodation to meet increasing demographic requirements it was not possible to include this project in the 5 year construction programme announced in March 2012.
School building projects, including the project referred to by the Deputy, which were previously initiated but not included in the current five year construction programme will continue to be progressed to final planning stages in anticipation of the possibility of further funds being available to the Department in the future.
