My Department received an application for refurbishment from the board of management of the school referred to by the Deputy in May 1998. A design team was appointed on 23 September 1999 to commence the architectural planning of the project and to examine a number of options to provide improved accommodation for the school. Following an examination of the options presented it was decided to proceed with the provision of a new school building.
The stage 1/2/3 report — developed plans/costs — was approved by my Department on 2 May 2001 and approval was given to the board of management to proceed to stage 4/5. The building project is currently at an advanced stage of architectural planning and has a band 3 rating.
My Department is not in a position to indicate the estimated cost for the project as this is regarded as commercially sensitive information. The total amount spent on the building project to date is €58,942.84. My officials are nearing completion of a review of all projects which did not proceed to construction as part of the 2004 school building programme with a view to including them as part of a multi-annual programme from 2005. All projects are being assessed against the published prioritisation criteria, agreed earlier this year with the education partners. Each project will be assigned a band rating and the progress of all projects will be considered in the context of the programme from 2005.
Following conclusion of the current Estimates and budgetary process I intend to publish the 2005 building programme which will operate in a multi-annual framework.
