Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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110. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of progress of the design phase of a proposed new school for (details supplied) in view of the delays in the project to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20640/18]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The major building project referred to by the Deputy is at an advanced stage of architectural planning Stage 2b (Detailed Design), which includes the application for statutory approvals and the preparation of tender documents. All statutory approvals have been secured.

My Department recently completed the review of the Stage 2b submission for this project and comments have issued.  Each member of the design team has been requested to submit written confirmations that they have completed a final review and are satisified that the tender documentation is fully compliant with the Department's Technical Guidance Documents, Building Control (Amendment) regulations and new Public Works Contract (PWC) tender documentation requirements.

Upon receipt of the requested confirmations and providing no other issues arise it is currently projected that this project will then be authorised to complete pre-qualification of contractors.  Pre-qualification normally takes between 8 and 12 weeks to complete. When pre-qualification is complete and the design team's NZEB submission has been considered, the project will then be progressed to tender stage.

A tender stage normally takes between 7 and 8 months to complete.

This project has been profiled to commence construction in Q3 2019. The school indicated in the discussions at the Joint Committee on Education and Skills that it may be possible to commence construction earlier in 2019.  If this is feasible, my Department is agreeable to facilitating same.

Regarding the site, my Department is currently progressing the conveyancing process in consultation with the Chief State Solicitor’s Office.

At this point it is not anticipated that the completion of conveyancing will impact upon the timelines for the delivery of the building project.