Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his reply and wish him the very best of luck in his new portfolio.

The community in Kanturk is exasperated. The Minister has just said that a contractor started work on 24 September and the work involved was expected to take five weeks. Completion of that work is a week or ten days overdue now. There must be real time limits in place because people are totally frustrated by what has happened with this project over the years. When will the ESB go on site to check the enabling works? Is it possible for the Minister to get a definite timeframe on that issue so that we can say that the enabling works are completed to the required specification and to the satisfaction of the OPW, the Department and the ESB?

On the pre-tendering process, a notice was published on 4 October and the process itself takes between six and eight weeks. Can the Minister say with certainty that this process will be completed by the first week in December? We must stick to the timeframes outlined because people will get very exasperated if there is any further slippage. If the pre-qualification process is complete by the first week of December, will the tendering process take place in the first quarter of 2019? How many weeks after completion of the pre-qualification process before the project goes to tender? How long will the tendering process take? When will the contractors be appointed to construct the school? It is vitally important that no more time is lost. An enormous amount of work has been done by many people to get the project this far and we must make sure that the OPW, the Department and all those involved stick to the timeframe laid down. There can be no slippage.

I ask the Minister to clarify whether the enabling works have been completed and to give me an assurance that the pre-qualification process will be completed by the first week of December. How long will it take after the pre-qualification process for the project to go to tender?

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