Tim Lombard (Fine Gael)
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I raise the issue of accommodation at Sacred Heart secondary school in Clonakilty, County Cork. I have been involved in this matter for the past few years. This vibrant school has nearly 550 students, a teaching population of just over 40 and a history on the site going back to 1941. It is a unique campus in many ways. It also had a boarding element, which ceased in 2005 and, as a result, one building has been left idle. This building is the reason I have raised this Commencement matter. It is a unique structure in the middle of the campus that is unfortunately lying idle. It dates back many years and it is planned to redevelop it. The building has great potential to meet the educational requirements of Clonakilty, particularly those of Sacred Heart secondary school.

This State has a history of having prefabricated buildings on site. Prefabs have been on this site for more than a decade. Approximately €1 million has been spent on prefabs in Clonakilty over the past 12 years. This is unfortunate when one considers that this money could have been put to much better use redeveloping the old boarding school building in the heart of the site.

I am trying to get movement on this project, which is part of the ADAPT programme. It will involve having outside consultants run the redevelopment of the boarding school campus. Progress is needed on the project. Clonakilty is a busy and thriving town. Population growth has been immense in the past decade. The county development plan has predicted many more thousands of people will move to this vibrant town. We need an education campus that will meet the town's future population needs.The need is there and the building is there. The funds to redevelop that unique building should be advanced in order that the Sacred Heart school in Clonakilty can develop and flourish as it needs.

I ask the Minister of State to provide an update on the ADAPT programme, where the school fits into the programme and when a project manager will be appointed. The external project manager who will run the project is a key element in ensuring it is delivered. This redevelopment has been talked about for generations. In the light of €1 million, unfortunately, having been spent prefabs for the school over the past decade, the need for movement on this project is very evident. We cannot just put money into a dead end such as prefabs. Rather, we must reinvest in this beautiful campus such that the school can flourish as it has since 1941.

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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On behalf of the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy McHugh, I thank the Senator for raising this matter which I know from previous conversations with him is very close to his heart. It provides me with the opportunity to outline to the Seanad the current position in regard to the major building project for the Sacred Heart Secondary School in Clonakilty.

A building project for the school is included in the Department of Education and Skills six-year construction programme. That is a significant first hurdle to get over. A project brief has been finalised and will provide an extension with refurbishment to cater for 600 pupils in the long-term projected enrolment. As the Senator stated, the project will be delivered via the ADAPT programme, which is an innovative delivery programme first introduced by the Department in 2016. It uses a professional external project manager to co-ordinate and drive the respective design teams on each project. In this regard, a tender competition is in train to establish a project manager framework, which is essentially a list of potential project managers with the skills and capacity to deliver on the project. That framework is expected to be in place shortly. Tenders have been returned by potential project managers and are being evaluated. Once established, the framework will be used to appoint a project manager for the ADAPT programme following a further tender exercise specific to ADAPT. The Department of Education and Skills wrote to the school on 19 March 19 to provide an update on the status of this project.

Tim Lombard (Fine Gael)
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As the Minister of State pointed out, I am familiar with the school, going to it every Monday afternoon for issues relating to my daughter. It is a very vibrant space of which we are very proud. It is important that there be movement on this project. The update by the Minister of State is very helpful. It is about trying to keep momentum behind the project. As soon as the ADAPT project manager is appointed, we will see significant movement. It is very important that we get a project manager in place in the next few weeks or months in order to be able to drive this very important project forward.

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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There is no question regarding the commitment of the Department of Education and Skills to see the project through to conclusion. We are very close to a project manager being appointed. I will undertake to again speak to the Minister, Deputy McHugh, on behalf of the Senator to impress on him the urgency of bringing the project to a conclusion as quickly as possible.