Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Chair for the opportunity to raise this issue. It concerns a school in my constituency, Scoil Chonaill Naofa, Bunbeg. I have raised this matter on a number of occasions in the Seanad since 2007 and I am glad progress is being made. I was informed on 16 September last by the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, in a letter that officials from his Department would shortly write to the board of management to authorise its design team to revise the tender documents in preparation for progressing the project to tender and construction. Previous to that the Minister and the Department had given approval to use the former Coláiste Cholmcille building as alternative accommodation during the school building project. The Minister went on in his letter to say the question of the main project proceeding to tender would be considered in the context of finalising the 2010 capital programme.

The project itself relates to the provision of accommodation to cater for pupils at the school and four mainstream staff teachers, together with ancillary staff, and planning permission for the project has been granted. There have been further developments since the Minister's letter of 16 September last. I am glad to report that officials from the Department's school building unit have been in touch with the board of management of the school and have met the design team for the project at Scoil Chonaill Naofa. I understand that the mandatory stage 2b documentation has been provided in compliance with the Department's guidelines. The board of management of the school has drawn my attention to one of the technical specifications surrounding that process. Subsection (k) of a document produced by the Department's planning and building unit, Design Team Procedures 2007 - Practice Note 1, states: "where approval to go to tender is delayed more than 1 month after the submission of the Stage 2b report, it will be necessary for the Quantity Surveyor to up-date the cost-check prior to issuing tenders". That places a further burden on the board of management, in effect. The board has essentially asked me to seek approval for the project to proceed to stage 3 and the subsequent stages of design team procedures, tender and construction. If additional delays cause the project to be put back until the end of November, it may be necessary for the board of management to revisit the tender documentation once more, which would place an additional burden on it.

I take this opportunity to thank the Minister, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, for his commitment to this project. He has listened to my representations and those of my constituency colleagues in respect of this project. A great deal has been achieved in recent months so it is important that we help the board of management by allowing the project to proceed to tender and construction as quickly as possible. While I appreciate that the Department's capital programme is facing financial constraints, I hope this project can go to tender. The intention is that competitive tenders will be achieved and the project will be completed in the next six to 12 months. A number of factors suggest it would be advantageous to go to tender at this stage. The alternative accommodation that is now available at Coláiste Cholmcille might not be available in the long term and it is important that we allow the project to proceed in the short term.

Martin Mansergh (Tipperary South, Fianna Fail)
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I am happy to respond on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, who unfortunately cannot be present. I thank Senator Ó Domhnaill for raising this matter and giving me an opportunity to outline to the Seanad the Government's strategy for capital investment in education projects and the current position in respect of Scoil Chonaill Naofa in Bunbeg, County Donegal. The modernisation of the facilities in our existing school building stock, like the need to respond to emerging education needs in areas of rapid population growth, is a significant challenge. The Government has shown a consistent determination to improve the condition of our school buildings and to ensure appropriate facilities are in place to enable the implementation of a broad and balanced curriculum. All applications for capital funding are assessed in the planning and building unit of the Department of Education and Science. The assessment process determines the extent and type of need, based on the demographics of an area, proposed housing developments, condition of buildings and site capacity etc., and leads to the finding of an appropriate accommodation solution. As part of this process, each project is assigned a band rating under the published prioritisation criteria for large-scale building projects, which were originally devised following consultation with the education partners before being revised and refined in 2004. Projects are selected for inclusion in the school building and modernisation programme on the basis of priority of need. This is reflected in the band rating that is assigned to a project. Each proposed building project moves through the system in a manner that is commensurate with the rating assigned to it. There are four band ratings, of which band 1 is the highest and band 4 the lowest. Band 1 projects include the provision of buildings where none exists but there is a high demand for pupil places. Band 4 projects make provision for desirable, but not necessarily urgent or essential facilities, such as libraries and new sports halls. The proposed building project for Scoil Chonaill Naofa has been assigned a band 2.1 rating.

All major projects on the Department of Education and Science capital programme progress through the same structured process of architectural planning, which is divided into clearly defined stages. The stages of architectural planning are set out in the Department's design team procedures and are necessary to comply with Department of Finance guidelines, which require that capital projects be fully designed prior to going to tender. They also ensure the proper cost management of capital projects and facilitate compliance with statutory and public procurement requirements. Five stages are involved in the progression of major school projects through architectural planning. The project at Scoil Chonaill Naofa is at an advanced stage of architectural planning. The brief for this extension and refurbishment project is to provide accommodation for a long-term projected staffing of a principal, four mainstream teachers and ancillary staff. When the Minister met a deputation from Scoil Chonaill Naofa in Bunbeg, a new cost-saving proposal for decanting the pupils for the duration of the project was presented and was welcomed by the Minister. Last month, a letter issued to the chairperson of the board of management, requesting the design team to begin work on revising the stage 2b documentation for submission to the Department. These revisions are required to ensure that the contract is in line with the new Government construction contract committee forms of contract. The design team has since been in contact with the Department regarding the submission of stage 2b documentation. Members of the design team and a representative of the board of management will shortly be invited to attend a departmental briefing session, which will explain fully what is required in revising the tender documentation to take account of the requirements of the new forms of contract. I thank the Senator again for giving me an opportunity to outline to the Seanad the current position regarding the building project at Scoil Chonaill Naofa.