Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this matter as it lets me have the opportunity to provide an update to the Seanad on the current position relating to the provision of a new school building for Clonturk Community College. Clonturk Community College is a multidenominational school under the patronage of City of Dublin Education and Training Board, ETB. It was established in September 2016 as a start-up second level school by City of Dublin Education and Training Board with Educate Together as a trustee partner. The school was developed to meet the needs of a growing population in the area and the demand for a multidenominational second-level school.

A memorandum of understanding between the Department of Education and City of Dublin ETB was finalised in March 2022. The memorandum of understanding sets out an ambitious agreement between the two, which delivers strategic benefits across the schools and further education and training sectors by maximising the value of properties across north Dublin city.

Under the proposed agreement, City of Dublin ETB will take a long-term lease over the Cathal Brugha Street-Marlborough Street property and will consolidate some of its further education training provision there, including provision currently made at Killester College of Further Education and Marino College of Further Education.

In return, the Department will take reciprocal long-term leases over City of Dublin Education and Training Board properties and deliver two 1,000 pupil post-primary school buildings plus accommodation, including six classrooms for children with special educational needs, at Whitehall for CIonturk Community College and Ellenfield Community College. It will deliver two eight-classroom primary schools plus accommodation for children with special educational needs at Gaelscoil Áine in Whitehall and Killester Raheny Clontarf Educate Together National School at the Killester site.

The major campus project on the current Clonturk Community College site in Whitehall will deliver two new 1,000 pupil post-primary school buildings for Clonturk and Ellenfield as well as a new eight-classroom primary school for Gaelscoil Áine. Both post-primary schools will provide approximately 1,200 additional co-educational, multidenominational post-primary school places in north Dublin city.

The project will be delivered under the Department's accelerated delivery of architectural planning and tendering, ADAPT, programme, which uses a professional external project manager to co-ordinate and drive the design team to achieve the best possible timeframe for the project through the stages of architectural planning to tender and construction. The campus project is in early architectural planning, which involves site surveys, school design stages and the preparation of statutory applications.

The programme manager for this programme was appointed in Q3 2023 and it is anticipated that the tender process for multidisciplinary design team consultants will start in Q1 2024 and complete in Q2 2024, subject to no issues arising. As with all school building projects, the exact timeframe for delivery of the permanent accommodation will be dependent on securing the grant of planning permission.