Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Question 523: To ask the Minister for Education and Science when the design team will be appointed in respect of the construction of a school (details supplied) in County Kilkenny; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2930/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The school referred to by the Deputy was listed among the 43 schools that I announced in March of 2005 to start architectural planning. The brief is for a new 16 classroom school. Apart from the civil-structural engineer, who my Department hopes to have appointed in the near future, all other design team members have been appointed. The architectural service for this project is being dealt with in-house by the school building section and substantial works on the early stages of the design process have already been completed.

The school authorities wrote to my Department in December 2005 requesting amendments to the brief and this is currently being examined by my officials. When this is completed, my Department will be in further contact with the school authorities as to the next step required to progress the project. It is not possible at this point to indicate when the architectural planning process will be completed. There are five stages in this process and the timeframe for completing these stages is contingent on various factors, including any unexpected issues that may arise, the period of time for the granting of planning permission and obtaining a fire certificate, etc. Progression of projects to construction will be considered in the context of the School Building and Modernisation Programme 2006-2009.