Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. The next matter is about the education construction programme and delays in extending Lucan community college.

Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Hopefully the Minister has good news or some clarity on the issue. Currently, Lucan community college is included in the Department of Education and Skills construction programme 2012 to 2016. The extension has been blighted by delays over the last ten years. There are many young people in Lucan. It has a large, growing school population. There is temporary accommodation on the campus currently to accommodate the overflow of students. I understand, because I got a lot of correspondence in the last week about this, that it is at stage 2A of the architectural planning process. That target was meant to be for completion of the extension in 2018. Now that is not going to be met. They have said that this needs to go to stage 2B, which could have the completion date of September 2019. That is still a long time away. Even that could run into difficulty.

I am trying to get clarity as to whether this could be fast-tracked or if clarity could be given to the college and the parents of students in the vicinity, because there is a huge need for this college. The college is about 30 years old. It needs to be updated. I ask the Minister to give clarity on when this can be finalised and completed.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this. He is right. This has had a considerable history and I can understand how people might get confused at the development. I will set it out for the Deputy as clearly as I can.

Lucan community college caters for both boys and girls and operates under the patronage of the Dublin and Dún Laoghaire Education and Training Board, ETB. The college has been in operation since 1987. Enrolment in the college for 2015-16 was 875 pupils, a 5% increase over the previous five years. Temporary accommodation has been installed on-site to cater for the increased enrolments in the school.

The brief for this project of an extension and refurbishment to the permanent modern accommodation is to cater for 1,000 pupils and a classroom special needs unit on the existing school site. The original design team for the project was appointed in June 2011 on a more restricted brief for an extension to the existing school. This project reached completion of stage 1, architectural planning, in April 2013. As part of that work and following an assessment of the current accommodation, it was agreed by the Department that extensive additional refurbishment works to the existing school would also be required. The Department approved a significant increase in the scope of works for the project to incorporate those refurbishment works. However, directly arising from this very significant expansion in the scope of works, it was necessary to commence a tender exercise for the appointment of a new design team to take the project forward from that point. This process was conducted by the ETB and was completed in October 2014. Tendering rules require that if the value of a project increases by more than 50% a new design team tender has to take place. The new design team was authorised to proceed to stage 2, architectural planning - developed design, in other words the detailed layout.

In March 2015, officials from my Department met with the ETB and its design team about the progression of the project. Further information was requested from the design team, including a reconciliation of areas. This was reviewed by my Department and an increase in the size of the proposed accommodation of more than 1,000 sq. m extra was approved. The newly appointed design team sought a further meeting with the Department to discuss the increased accommodation and to reconcile the areas. My Department facilitated this meeting in June 2016. The stage 2 report was submitted to the Department on 7 November 2016.

Following the stage 2 stakeholders' meeting, which was held on 30 November 2016, the ETB and its design team were requested to submit a stage 2 addendum addressing issues which arose at that meeting. This addendum was submitted by the ETB on 22 December and my Department commenced its review of the report in early January 2017.

Once that review is complete my Department will revert to the ETB with regard to the further progression of the project.

Upon successful completion of stage 2A the project will progress to complete stage 2B, detailed design, which involves obtaining planning permission, fire certificate and disability access certificate, and the completion of tender documents. Following completion of stage 2B the project will then be progressed to tender and construction stages.

Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for that technical reply. Can the Minister give a completion date to try to decipher this? These things can go forever. Can the Minister give a completion date saying that it should be completed by September 2019? Obviously, the correspondence I got from some of the parents asked if the completion of stage 2A could be expedited with approval to stage 2B granted as a matter of urgency. I do not know if the Minister addressed that in the reply.

Basically the students and parents are looking for a completion date that the school can plan for. I do not know if the Minister can supply that. I know these are technical things. This seems to have really dragged on to a point where figures can be a bit elusive. I ask for some sort of completion date.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Each stage in the process has to be gone through and I do not control the duration of those. It is expected that by the end of March to mid-April the Department will have completed its review of the stage 2A documents. However, as the reply explains, it then has to submit a planning application, get planning permission, a fire certificate and a disability access certificate, and complete tender documents. I cannot indicate how long it will take to get planning permission, whether there will be snags or appeals. All those things could lead to delays. If the local authority imposed a planning requirement that had not been anticipated in the design, it would have to be reviewed.

I cannot give an accurate estimate of how long that would take. Obviously, if it gets through stage 2B, it is then in a position to commence tendering which is a whole process in itself after which it goes to construction. Unfortunately, as I know from experience, there can be delays in a project like this at any of those points, including at planning stage. There can also be issues with tender documents. I cannot give a clear line of sight.

We are building schools providing 20,000 new school places every year. We try to ensure we prioritise our work so that we have a continuous flow. No shilling ever gets unspent in our Department. We always have projects like this. As it gets through we will be in a position to prioritise it for funding. It is a supply line and I do not control the speed with which the supply moves along. I can fully understand the Deputy's concern. As I outlined in the earlier reply, the history has been a chequered one. People have been frustrated and have had to make adaptations and changes. It leads to the sort of correspondence the Deputy has received.