Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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270. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the rebuild of a school (details supplied) is to be released to tender; when works on the rebuild of the school will commence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30874/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The project referred to by the Deputy has recently been approved to proceed to Stage 3 which involves the tender competition for appointment of the building contractor. The school and its design team have been informed.

The tender stage for any major project normally takes between four and six months to complete. The school and its design team have been asked to ensure that tenders are received as early as possible. My Department awaits confirmation from the school and its design team in this regard. It is anticipated that construction will start early in 2017.

John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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271. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to provide funding for a school (details supplied) to upgrade from its current building; if his attention has been drawn to the inadequate space available for students in the school and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30878/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The school to which the Deputy refers opened in September 2012 in temporary accommodation, pending delivery of the school's permanent school building.

In December 2012, outline planning permission to provide a permanent school building for the school was submitted to the relevant local authority but was refused on the grounds of site access. This was appealed by my Department to An Bord Pleanála but subsequently withdrawn to facilitate submission to the local authority of an amended outline planning permission in 2013, which was also refused on similar grounds.

This decision was appealed by my Department to An Bord Pleanála but refused. However, the Board considered that the matter of assessing alternative means of accessing these lands would benefit from a co-ordinated approach by my Department and the planning authority in the interests of achieving a comprehensive and balanced solution to ongoing access issues on this educational campus.

My Department and the local authority have met to discuss appropriate access routes with a view to a further planning application being submitted as soon as possible. My Department is also actively in discussion with relevant landowners to advance this process to a satisfactory conclusion.