Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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Question 914: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Science if a new regulation regarding the design of disabled toilets is to be applied to existing projects; if the new regulations will delay progress towards the construction of the Star of the Sea National School, Passage West, County Cork; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14998/10]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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From 1 January 2010, all new building projects, including those for schools, must obtain a Disability Access Certificate from the relevant Local Authority. The Building Control (Amendment) Regulations 2009 (S.I. 351 of 2009) prescribe the procedures to be followed in respect of these new certification measures. The basis for developing the Disability Access Certificate documentation is Part M of the current Building Regulations 2000.

In general, however, it has been the policy of my Department to provide all new schools with access-for-all facilities and special toilets for disabled teachers and students. In addition, new schools with two or more storeys are provided with lifts to enable access for all.

My Department advises school authorities and their design teams of accessibility requirements during the architectural planning of projects.

My Department issued comments on the stage 2(b) submission from the Design Team on this project in late March. The Design Team are currently working on a response to these comments. Once stage 2(b) is complete, the project will progress to the tender and construction stage. The application for a Disability Access Cert will be progressed by the Design Team in tandem with the completion of stage 2(b) and the normal progression of the project to tender and construction.