Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 September 2021
471. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Education the number of primary and secondary schools that are awaiting construction across the country following tenders for construction having been awarded by location and by county as of 1 September 2021, in tabular form. [46569/21]
View answerMy Department has a large-scale and ambitious roll-out of school building projects under the National Development Plan and as part of Project Ireland 2040. The continuation of construction work on school building projects during lockdown period in early 2021 was an important enabler to facilitating the delivery of our school building programme.
There are currently over 250 school building projects at construction stage, with a continuous stream of other projects at or near the tendering stage.
The current status of these projects being delivered is listed on a county by county basis on gov.ie and is updated on a monthly basis to reflect their progress through the various stages.
My Department is aware of the challenges of Covid and the challenging market conditions for tender processes that are currently underway and is working proactively to ensure that all school building contracts are awarded as expeditiously as possible, while working within the parameters set by the Office of Government Procurement and principles of public procurement set out at both national and EU level.
My Department works closely with design teams on school projects to permit reasonable additional time for tenderers to submit tenders, allowing them ample time to price appropriately given the current market.
As of 1 of September 2021 my Department is not aware of any project where, following the completion of the tender process, the contract has been awarded but the contractor has not started on site.
