Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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14. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when a new school (details supplied) in County Donegal will move to build stage; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10858/19]

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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The brief for the major building project for the school to which the Deputy refers is to provide a new 3 storey 24 classroom school with ancillary accommodation.

This project 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.

The pre-qualification process to select a short-list of contractors for tender stage is currently on-going. In parallel with this process the Design Team is currently working on a submission to the Department outlining the steps required to achieve compliance with Part L of the Building Regulations 2017 (NZEB - "Near Zero Energy Building"). This is a new requirement arising from the introduction of Part L (Conservation of Fuel and Energy) of the Building Regulations to ensure compliance with the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). Part L of the Building Regulations 2017 applies to buildings other than dwellings and came into effect on 22 December 2017.

When pre-qualification is complete and the design team's NZEB submission has been considered and any consequential amendments to Stage 2(b) design and tender documents have been implemented this project will then be progressed to tender stage.

A tender stage normally takes between 7 and 8 months to complete. Upon completion of tender stage this project will then progress to construction stage.

As a T.D. for Donegal, I welcome this Governments investment in a number of education projects across the County. This school, when opened, will be a benefit to generations of Donegal school children for decades to come.

As Minister for Education and Skills I will continue to work to make sure this school is opened as quickly as possible.