Michael Creed
Ceist:422 Mr. Creed asked the Minister for Education if he will outline the procedure and various stages which any application for a new school goes through.
Written Answers. - New School Application Procedures.
Every application for a new school is thoroughly examined in my Department having regard particularly to the level of support for such a development, especially in the case of a minority group school application; its long term viability; demographic trends, including the most up to date statistics available on housing developments, births, etc., for the area in question and the availability of pupil places in existing schools in the particular area, or within a reasonable distance.
Regard is also had to the Department's policy of rationalisation in the provision of school accommodation.
When it is established to the satisfaction of the Department that these criteria are met, the applicant is informed of the decision and the question of the physical planning is then initiated.
In this context the first essentials are to agree a schedule of accommodation with the client body and the appointment of a design team. Following a briefing meeting with my Department's technical advisers, actual physical planning commences. There are a number of stages involved, depending on the complexity of the project, in the process, ranging from establishing site suitability, through the various developmental stages and detailed design drawings, to the preparation of documentation on which tenders can be invited. Further progress to construction depends on the availability of the necessary capital funding.