Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter as it allows me to provide an update on the current position on the planned development of the new three-school campus at Carrigtohill. I know of the Deputy's ongoing interest and I also know the interest of Deputies Stanton and O'Connor, who have consistently raised the matter with me also.

Carrigtwohill Community College is a co-educational post-primary school under the patronage of Cork Education and Training Board and the Diocese of Cloyne. The school first opened its doors in August 2016 and is located in interim accommodation at Unit 2A, Fota Business Park, Carrigtohill. The brief for the project is to provide a new 1,000-pupil post-primary school with a three-classroom special educational needs unit.

Scoil Chliodhna Community National School is a co-educational primary school which opened in September 2015 and is currently in interim accommodation at Carrigtwohill GAA sports complex. The brief for the project is to provide a new 24-classroom primary school with a three-classroom special educational needs unit.

Scoil Mhuire Naofa National School is a co-educational primary school and is under the patronage of the Catholic Bishop of Cloyne. The school is currently located on a parish-owned site consisting of ten permanent classrooms with seven classes in temporary accommodation on site. The brief for the project is to provide a new 24-classroom school with a three-classroom special educational needs unit.

It is an impressive testament to the ambitious plans that this campus will be the largest single-school building project ever undertaken by the Department and will serve a school community of 2,400 pupils. As the Deputy has outlined, there have been difficulties with planning. A planning application for the permanent accommodation for the three schools was lodged in March 2019. A request for further information was received in August 2019. A final grant of planning permission was received on 6 July 2020. In 2021, my Department engaged with a third-party contractor regarding the road network which is required to be constructed by that party to facilitate the schools building projects. The construction of the roads is now approaching completion, which is very positive.

In 2021, the Department established a design and build contractors framework to which design and build projects are tendered. The project for the Carrigtohill campus was tendered to this framework on 14 June 2021. Since the commencement of the tender process, the Department has explicitly required potential tenderers to prioritise the completion of the community college first within the campus.

The tenders were returned on 27 October 2021 and the tender assessment report from my Department's project manager has been recently received by my Department and is currently under review. It is anticipated that the letter of intent to appoint the building contractor will issue in the coming weeks in quarter 1.

Once the successful contractor is appointed, the Department's technical team will immediately liaise with the contractor to ensure that the delivery of the community college is prioritised within the contractor's programme of works. Throughout construction, the Department's technical team will ensure that a sharp focus is maintained on delivering the finished community college as early as possible within the campus construction programme.

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