Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister and I have been on the opposite side of debates in the past, but this is important. The amalgamation of the schools in Kanturk, County Cork is a long running issue. There have been many promises, commitments and press releases and when the people of the community hear of another statement on the school development, they throw their eyes up to Heaven and say they have heard it all before. We raised this issue back in March to establish what the process was. It started with the enabling works which are ongoing on the site in Kanturk.

Where is the amalgamated school? I understand there was a commitment and that funding has been locked down for the last eight or nine years for the project. There have been many false dawns and many people involved in the project are frustrated, but much work has been done on the ground to try to bring it together in relation to access and planning permission, in the seeking of which the Department had to take the project back to An Bord Pleanála. We now have planning permission and access has been achieved through the work done locally. What we need is a definite timeframe for the school. We want to know where the tender process is at. When is it envisaged that construction will start? One of the most fundamental questions I want to have answered is what is the completion date for the project and when is the school likely to open for students and teachers alike? We need a clear timeframe and to be able to say the project is going ahead and that there is a commitment to it. I have put more questions about this issue which I have raised in Topical Issues debates than on any other in the number of years I have been lucky enough to be in this House. As I said, we need a clear timeframe for the tender process. Where is it at and when will it be completed? When will construction commence and what is the timeframe for it?

I ask the Minister to ensure the Department and the officials involved in it will adhere to whatever timeframe is set or commitments are given because we do not want to go back to the school community or the community of Kanturk and Duhallow only for them to say they have heard it all before because questions keep coming up about what progress has been made and when the school will open because flowery commitments have been made to generations of people during the years since the project started and they have all come to nought. Will the Minister outline what he and his Department are doing?

I ask the Leas-Cheann Comhairle to let me use the remaining time later.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy will have a further two minutes.

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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Gabhaim buíochas don Teachta as ucht an cheist fadúda an scoil i gCeann Toirc i gContae Chorcaí.

I thank Deputy Moynihan for raising this issue. The Deputy will recall the update provided by the former Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Bruton, in March. He will also be aware that this project has had a difficult history, both on the site acquisition front and during the statutory planning processes which started back in 2012. These matters have been complex to resolve and my Department fully understands the frustration of the schools and the local community.

As the Deputy knows, the project in question is to provide a new primary school building to accommodate the amalgamation of St. Colman's boys national school and the Convent of Mercy girls national school in Kanturk. A 16 classroom school with a three classroom autism spectrum disorder, ASD, unit is planned for delivery. The site for the project was purchased by Cork Education and Training Board, ETB and the project is being delivered by the Office of Public Works, OPW. The project has been delayed primarily due to planning permission issues but also as a result of complications with site ownership and in respect of the provision of services to the site. The resolution of these issues involved a large number of complex and interrelated matters, including appeals to An Bord Pleanála and the acquisition of licences to allow works to take place, all of which took time to resolve. However, I am glad to be able to report that the vast majority of these issues are now resolved and we hope that the path is now clear to progress the project as quickly as possible.

I welcome the opportunity to outline to the House the up-to-date position. I am delighted to be able to provide assurances to Deputy Moynihan that the project is now progressing well and the funding to progress it is in place to the end of this year and into next year. As the former Minister previously outlined, the resolution of the issues around land ownership has permitted necessary enabling works to begin. After successfully concluding the tender process for this element of the project, a contractor was appointed and these works commenced on site on 24 September last. The expected timeframe for completion of the works is five weeks, meaning that they are expected to conclude shortly. The ESB will then go on site to check the works, following which it will programme the associated cable installation works. We do not, as yet, have a date for the completion of this element of the programme. Meanwhile, the OPW is proceeding with the pre-qualification of contractors for the main works and published a notice on the e-tenders website on 4 October last in that respect. The pre-qualification process should take between six and eight weeks. Once it is completed, we will approve the project to proceed to tender and construction.

Deputy Moynihan asked when the school will be finished. It is too early at this stage to give a definite timeline for project completion. All going well, however, the tendering for construction will take place in the first quarter of 2019.

Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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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?

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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I understand that the Deputy is trying to keep the momentum going on this project. He can see the starting line and wants to get the diggers on site. The initial works began on 24 September and were scheduled to take five weeks. We are in that space now and once that work is complete the ESB will go on site. I have no doubt that the Deputy will use his influence at a local level to try to ensure that happens as quickly as possible and raising the matter in the House tonight will do the project no harm. The OPW is proceeding with the pre-qualification process for contractors for the main works and published a notice on the e-tenders website on 4 October. According to the information I have been given, the pre-qualification process takes between six and eight weeks. While I cannot guarantee that the process will be finished this side of Christmas, I can say that the Department understands the importance of this project to the local community in Kanturk. This project has been in the pipeline since 2012. The journey has been a long one and the community wants to get it over the line. We are in a space now where everything is coming together. Funding for the project is committed for this year and next so there should be no delay. I will speak to my officials directly to make sure it is moved along as quickly as possible.