Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I shall go straight into the substantive issue of the reply. There is a preamble around the general allocation of money in this sector. The NCSE is aware of emerging need from year to year, and where special provision is required in an area, it is planned and provided for. The NCSE sanctioned a new special class in St. Conleth's community college to meet the identified needs of students in Kildare, and the relevant teaching and SNA support has been allocated to the school. To this end, the Department is providing a stand-alone extension to the community college in Newbridge. This extension will provide 4,602 sq. m of additional accommodation, including a PE hall and 552 sq. m of accommodation for children with special needs, to complement the existing 3,072 sq. m building.

The Deputy will be aware that the Department devolved the project for delivery to the KWETB. The contractor was appointed for the project in October 2015. Unfortunately, the project was significantly delayed primarily as a result of contractual issues. Though progress has been less than satisfactory throughout the project, I am pleased that the building work on this project is now complete. The Deputy will be aware of this from her conversations with the KWETB this morning. A small number of snagging and defects issues that remained to be rectified and that prevented the extension being ready in time for 1 September have now been addressed. Additionally, some further drainage issues that emerged and which led to a further delay in the completion of the project have been resolved.

I acknowledge how disappointing these difficulties have been for the school community, including the pupils and parents concerned. It is, however, in the nature of any building project that unforeseen issues can arise. The objective is always to deal with these as quickly as possible to minimise delay and this has been the focus of KWETB and its design team. When a building is completed, certifications for the constituent components are required to be registered with the local authority for the purposes of demonstrating that the building complies with building control regulations. This was done yesterday. The local authority is required to turn this around within three weeks. After hearing of the Deputy's intervention, I would implore if possible that the turnaround time be brought into a more realistic timeframe. The schools rise at the end of this week and they will then have the week off. To give parents a bit of certainty on the issue I would like to see that happen. I am aware there is a three-week turnaround, and if this is possible I would certainly support that.

KWETB is actively communicating with the key stakeholders in respect of this project. The school management is in regular contact with the parents concerned to keep them informed of progress with the project and met with them recently in that context.

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