John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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25. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the issues causing a delay for a school (details supplied) to proceed to construction in 2016; the actions that can be taken to ensure this project proceeds to construction in 2017 and that the extension and renovation works are complete by September 2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10124/17]

John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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Lucan community college is included in the Department's six-year construction programme. Lucan has seen a significant increase in population in recent years and the school has accommodated that increase with temporary accommodation and other things. The school is over 30 years old and is in need of urgent renovation and new extensions to accommodate the increase in population. It is currently at stage 2A and the target date for the extension and renovations to be completed is September 2018. Can the Minister update us on the construction of the extension and on the renovations?

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I agree that there have been a number of delays, through no fault of anyone. The project to provide an extension to Lucan community college commenced design in June 2011. The design team reached completion of stage 1 of architectural planning in April 2013. The stage 1 report suggested that extensive refurbishment works to the existing school would also be required. My Department approved a significantly increased scope of works to incorporate those refurbishment works. The increased scope and value of the project lead to a request for a substantial increase in design team fees.

EU regulations limiting contract increases to 50% required a tender exercise for the appointment of a new design team. The ETB tendered for and appointed a new design team in October 2014. The new design team brought the project through stage 2A, which is the detailed design stage. Following the stage 2A stakeholders' meeting on 30 November 2016, the ETB and its design team were requested to submit a stage 2A addendum to address issues in the detailed design. This addendum was submitted by the ETB on 22 December 2016 and is currently under review. Once this review is complete the project will then progress to complete stage 2B which includes the application for statutory approvals and the preparation of tender documents for contractors.

Any timeframe for the further progression of the project through the tender and construction stages will necessarily be dependent on the timeframe for the ETB and its design team successfully completing stage 2B. That stage involves planning permission, disabled access and fire certificates etc.

I assure the Deputy that once stage 2B is complete my Department will do everything it can to ensure the tender and construction stages are expedited.

John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for his reply. I am familiar with the history of this matter. In April 2016, the then Minister indicated it was her intention, and the Department's intention, that at that stage this would go to construction by the end of 2016. That obviously did not happen. The concern is that the board of management, the principal, parents and teachers had been given a target date that these works were likely to be completed by September 2018. The current Minister indicated that the addendum required from the school had been submitted and was now with the Department. In light of the extended period over which this has gone on, it has been torturous for everybody involved. Very little has moved on since April 2016.

I am asking the Minister and the Department to take a proactive role to ensure this project is moved along swiftly. The parents and teachers of this school are due an opening date which should be set out.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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As I said in the reply, the Department will do everything it can to move this along, but I cannot make commitments on the time taken to obtain planning permission, disabled access or fire certificates. Various elements can arise in either the planning or construction phase. With the best will in the world, these projects will not always go in a straight line, following an even timeframe. We must wait for that work to be completed by the responsible bodies.

I can assure the Deputy that the Department wants this project completed and will do everything it can to support that end.

John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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I am not going to disagree with the Minister. I appreciate the fact that the planning process and such details take their own time. My specific concern, however, is that the project has been at stage 2A for a protracted period. I understand everything that was requested has been supplied. As the Minister said, the addendum was submitted to the Department and has been there for a period of time. They cannot go to stage 2B until the Minister moves, so the ball is in the Minister's and the Department's court.

I fully understand what the Minister said about the planning process, but we cannot even get to that stage until the Department moves. The Minister has received the addendum, he said so on the record of the House, but we need him to move so that this project can at least get from stage 2A to 2B, which is the detailed planning stage. That will give the school's teaching staff and students an opportunity for this project to be completed within a reasonable time in light of its long and extended history to date.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I understand that process normally takes about 13 weeks. I am sure the Department will be striving to ensure that this review is completed within that timescale and that the next stage can be triggered.