Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Dolan for raising this matter because it provides me with an opportunity to outline the current position as to the major building project for Scoil an Chroí Naofa, Ballinasloe, County Galway. I understand that this project is included in the Department’s construction programme, which is being delivered under the national development plan. The brief is to provide for the demolition of the existing school building and the construction of a new school building to include 13 general classrooms with 13 special resource rooms, two speech and language resource rooms and a two-room specialist ASD unit, which the Senator mentioned.

Planning permission was secured for this project in 2011 and an extension to planning was secured in October 2016. The latter expires in November 2021. Unfortunately, as the Senator has correctly pointed out, there have been a number of delays with the project, including a request from the Department to make savings due to a cost overrun, the requirement to appoint a new team of engineers, a number of requests to change the brief relating to the project, the updating of submissions due to the public works contracts and concerns regarding access and planning.

The design team and the board of management presented their most recent brief change request to the Department in March 2020. This was approved in principle, subject to some clarifications, in April 2020. The design team at that time was advised to complete a revised stage 2b report incorporating this brief change in the tender documentation. The design team then forwarded the revised stage 2b report to the board of management for review sign-off and onward transmission to the Department in November 2020. We understand that this has not been received by the Department to date due to concerns raised by the school.

The major building project for this school is at an advanced stage of architectural planning, stage 2b, which includes the application for statutory approvals and the preparation of tender documents. While all statutory approvals have been secured, however, the Department is still awaiting the final stage 2b report from the school authorities, referred to by the Senator, and the project cannot be progressed without this. In addition, given the impending expiration of the planning permission, it is likely that a new planning application will now be required. My Department met with representatives from the school last month, at their request, to discuss the options available to the school to progress this project and my Department advised them of these. The school authorities are to consider these options and to revert to the Department. The Department also requested the school authorities to send the revised 2b to the Department with the school’s comments for its consideration. At this meeting, I understand that the Department committed to assisting the school to progress the project.

I agree with Senator Dolan that the period relating to this project - she mentioned 20 or 25 years - seems extraordinarily long. It is also extraordinary that the project has not come to fruition.It has not happened yet but there is collaboration. We have to continue the dialogue between the board of management, the local authorities, the Department of Education and the school. This is really important for the almost 300 children involved. There will be 13 classrooms, 13 special resource rooms and two speech and language resource rooms. More importantly from my perspective, there will be two autistic spectrum disorder, ASD, units, and it is really important we have those. I hear and I share the Senator's frustration and I assure her I will bring the legitimate concern and outrage she raised today to the attention of the building unit and the Minister, Deputy Foley. Whatever the reasons for the delay, this project needs to be progressed because these school children should not be disadvantaged.