Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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1229. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills for an update on the major project for a school (details supplied); when works will commence and be completed; the reason for the continued delay; if this project will be prioritised given the extremely lengthy delay already experienced; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43560/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Large-Scale Capital Project for the school referred to by the Deputy is included in my Department’s School Building Programme.

The project brief is for the construction of a new extension and the refurbishment of existing facilities is to accommodate 1,000 pupils, with accommodation and classrooms for children with special educational needs.

The project is currently at Stage 3 – Tender Stage. Due diligence by the 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 budgetary parameters.

With respect to this project, certain issues that arose during the procurement process caused significant delays in completing the overall procurement process. More than four years has elapsed since the publication of the contract notice and more than two years since the tender submission deadline. Mindful of the requirement to carefully manage the capital programme and the passage of time since tenders were returned, an unacceptably high risk to the project has been identified. On that basis and following engagement with my Department, DDLETB, as Client for this project, has made the decision to collapse the tender procedure.

DDLETB intends to issue a new procurement process for this project in due course.

Department officials will continue to work closely with DDLETB on the progression of the project.

Until such time that a contractor has been appointed, a timeline for completion cannot be provided.