Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour)
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Question 245: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the stage of the proposed development of a new building for a school (details supplied) in County Meath; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24177/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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In view of the need to ensure that every child has access to a school place, the delivery of major school projects to meet the demographic demands nationally will be the main focus for capital investment in schools in the coming years. The five year programme announced recently is focused on meeting those demographic needs.

The building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is currently at an early stage of architectural planning. The Stage 1 submission, which incorporates Preliminary Design, was recently lodged with my Department and is currently being reviewed. When this is complete, my Department will revert to the Board of Management and their Design Team and assuming no other issues arise the project will proceed to the next stage of architectural planning. School building projects currently in architectural planning, including the project referred to by the Deputy, will continue to be advanced incrementally over time within the context of the funding available. However, in light of current competing demands on my Department's capital budget, it is not possible at this time to indicate when this project will progress to tender and construction stage.