Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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1002. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide an update on the delivery of a school (details supplied) as planning permission has been granted by Fingal County Council; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20602/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The large scale capital project referred to by the Deputy is at an advanced stage of Architectural Planning Stage 3 – Tender Action and Award.

The next stage in the process will be the authorisation to the issue of the Letter of Acceptance.

The large-scale capital project remains a priority for delivery and department officials will be in contact with the Design Team regarding further progression of the project.

Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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1003. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide an update on the progress of the new building for a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20603/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The school project to which the Deputy refers has been devolved for delivery to CEIST as part of a campus project.

The project is currently at Stage 2b of the architectural planning design process. This stage of the process allows for detailed design and planning, obtaining the necessary statutory permissions and the preparation of tender documents. The planning application was submitted to Fingal County Council in August 2024.

As soon as planning permission is finalised, the design team will complete the stage 2b report for submission to the Department. As soon as this report is received, reviewed, and approved, the project will progress to tender stage and onwards to construction in due course.

The timeframe for the construction of the project will not be known until the design stages have been completed and planning permission secured.

CEIST, as the delivery body will continue to engage directly with the school community to keep it fully informed of progress.

The current status of all projects is listed on a county by county basis at www.gov.ie. and this is updated on a regular basis to reflect project progress through the various stages of capital appraisal, site acquisition, design, tender and construction.

Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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1004. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide an update on the progress her Department has made to progress the new building for a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20604/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The brief for Rush NS is the construction of a new 2 storey 32 classroom school with 2 SEN classrooms, GP hall and all ancillary accommodation and external works.

The project is at Architectural Planning Stage 3 – Tender Action and Award. A tender report was received from the Design Team in 2023 and was reviewed by my Department, during the course of this review it was noted that the Planning Permission was due to expire in December 2023 and a new planning permission application would be required.

Given the passage of time since tenders were returned and the requirement for a new planning application, the Design Team were authorised in July 2024 to collapse the former tender procedure and proceed with the new planning application. This planning application will include decarbonisation measures in accordance with Technical Design Guidance. The Design Team have liaised with Fingal County Council accordingly.

The updated tender documents will include the updated Mechanical and Electrical requirements in accordance with decarbonisation measures, and compliance with any statutory requirements.

The due diligence by my Department is a critical part of the overall completion of the Stage 3 process and is critical to ensuring quality and value for money, and that projects are progressed within overall programme parameters.

The large scale capital project remains a priority for delivery and department officials will keep the school authority updated as Stage 3 progresses.

Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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1005. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide an update on the progress of the modular build special class for a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20605/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The school to which the Deputy refers has been granted capital funding under the Department’s SEN Reconfiguration & Modular Accommodation Programme for the provision of two Special Educational Needs (SEN) classrooms.

This programme involves the use of Project Management supports which is designed to enable the accommodation to be provided as quickly as possible and help ease the administrative workload for school authorities in relation to the management and delivery of projects. Kerrigan Sheanon Newman (KSN) has been appointed, from the Department’s Framework, to design and tender the project at the school in question. This is a collaborative process between the Project Manager, School Authority and the Department.

The manufacture of the accommodation has commenced and the project is currently at Detailed Design stage which is expected to be finalised following submission to the Department in the coming weeks.

My Department is fully aware of the urgency in respect of this accommodation and will be working closely with the Project Managers and School Authority to keep it updated on overall project delivery and timelines.

Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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1006. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide an update on the progress of the extension planned for a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20606/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The school referred to by the Deputy was approved to enter the Department’s pipeline of school buildings to provide 3 Mainstream classrooms, 1 SET Room and a 2 classroom SEN base.

I can confirm that this project received the Departments approval to move to Stage 2a in Q2 of 2024 and the Department now awaits the submission of the Stage 2a Cost Plan to include any cost implications arising from planning conditions accompanied by an Architect’s Report with commentary on the planning conditions.

It is now within the remit of the school authority to progress this project accordingly.