Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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914. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the current status of a school (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54605/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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Dublin and Dún Laoghaire ETB (DDLETB) are currently being supported by SOLAS in developing their proposal for Swords under the FET College of the Future Major Projects fund.

DDLETBs proposal is expected to encompass the transformation of FET provision in the area by developing a state-of-the-art further education campus to drive economic growth and social development.

The site preference for this new college is Swords due to its population base and future growth projections. In this respect, officials from my department and SOLAS along with the Local Authority and ETB officials have identified a preferred site that meets the needs of the new college and are progressing towards the acquisition of this site.

In parallel to this work, DDLETB are also working on their Preliminary Business Case (PBC) proposal for the infrastructure which will be delivered on the site. The development of a robust PBC is fundamental to the requirements of the Infrastructure Guidelines. Once DDLETB have completed their business case proposal they will submit it to SOLAS for evaluation. Business cases that meet the evaluation criteria will advance to the next stage of development: Pre-Tender – Project Design, Planning, and Procurement Strategy.

SOLAS and officials from my department will continue to support DDLETB in the development of their proposal and I remain committed to ensuring there is appropriate infrastructure in place to meet the needs of FET learners and teaching staff.