The building project for the School referred to by the Deputy was one of the sixty two projects that I announced to start the architectural planning process in January of this year. The brief for the project consists of a 16 classroom Generic Repeat Design with an additional bolt-on Special Education Tuition room. A Design Team was appointed on the project in June of this year and following a briefing seminar in my Department's Offices in Tullamore, the Design Team were instructed to proceed to stage 3 (detailed design with costings) of my Department's Design Team Procedures.
The stage 3 documentation is now awaited and when this is received in my Department, my Officials will, if necessary, arrange a meeting with the School Authorities and their Design Team in order to evaluate the documentation. Once the stage 3 is approved, the new School building project will proceed, in accordance with the School Building and Modernisation Programme 2006-2010, to advanced design and subsequently to tender and construction.