Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Clifford-Lee for putting it so well regarding the challenges faced by a strong and growing community in Rush in north County Dublin and the challenges faced by the school. Seventeen years is a long time to wait for this school to be developed.Members of the board have had great patience and tenacity. The school is watching in on this Commencement matter today. For the principal, Mr. Morgan Doran, managing a school of 700 pupils with growing demand in this area, it is vital that the project now proceeds.

The major building project for Rush National School is included in the Department of Education's construction programme which is being delivered under the national development plan. The project brief includes the demolition of the existing single-storey Rush National School building and removal of existing temporary accommodation and construction of a new two-storey building on the same site. The project brief includes 32 classrooms, two classrooms for children with special educational needs, a general purpose hall and ancillary accommodation. External works include a new boundary treatment, landscaping, staff car parking area, ball courts, play areas, bicycle storage, bin storage and ancillary work. This is a very exciting project for this important school.

A tender report was received from the design team in 2023 and was reviewed by the Department. In the course of this review it was noted that the planning permission was due to expire in December 2023 and a new planning permission application would be required. The Department is liaising with the design team in relation to the requirements of the new planning permission and the design team held a pre-planning meeting with Fingal County Council very recently in March 2024. The due diligence by the Department of Education is a critical part of the overall completion of the stage 3 process and is critical to ensuring quality and value for money. The projects are progressed within the overall programme parameters. In response to the Senator, progress may feel slow but it is progressing. There is hope for optimism that it will progress given the most recent meeting in March. I hope it will go to planning and construction as soon as possible.