Cormac Devlin
Question:865. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Education the status of a project for a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14583/21]
View answerWednesday, 24 March 2021
Questions (865)
Written answers
My Department remains committed to providing permanent accommodation to meet the needs of the school to which the Deputy refers. As the Deputy is aware, officials in my Department have been actively engaging with officials from Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council via emails, phone calls and through online meeting platforms to establish all relevant information in respect of two site options so that a determination as to the optimum configuration of school sites can be made at the earliest possible date. As a result, the acquisition of this site is progressing well.
My Department has published technical guidance documents on the identification and suitability assessment of sites for schools which sets out the criteria to be used in assessing potential school sites. These guidance documents recommend that as part of the evaluation of site suitability a number of factors are taken into account including zoning, existing services, site orientation, topography, transport and access. My Department makes use of its own in-house professional and technical staff in relation to the technical assessment of sites, to ensure the suitability of a given site for the development of a school building.
As the Deputy will appreciate, the site acquisition process can be lengthy and there can be complex issues which need to be addressed during negotiations, technical assessments and conveyancing. In this regard, it is not possible to give a timeframe for delivery of the site. However, once my officials achieve agreement in principle on the final site, the Patron will be advised of the location without delay and the site acquisition will proceed to the conveyancing stage.
At all times my Department strives to obtain best value for the Exchequer and given the commercial sensitivities associated with land acquisitions generally, I am not in a position to comment further at this time.