Assurances given after pausing of major Mayo school building project

An assurance has been given to Mayo TD Alan Dillon that issues over the building of a new extension at a Mayo secondary school will be resolved before Easter.

Deputy Dillon outlined to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar the deep frustration, anger and disappointment which had been expressed to him by the staff of Davitt College, Castlebar, over the pausing of the building programme at the school.

He elaborated: “A commitment was given to the school two years ago that the accommodation issue would be prioritised to facilitate the growth in numbers if it increased its enrolment cap.

"The school did this, but the government commitment has not been fulfilled.

"The school was informed on January 30 last that the building programme has been stopped to allow for a review.

"The proposed state-of-the-art extension has since ground to a halt.”

Deputy Dillon asked An Taoiseach what needs to be done to get the project developed for the staff and students of Davitt College, as was faithfully promised to them by the Department of Education last September.

According to Deputy Dillon there are a number of Mayo primary and secondary Schools awaiting the go ahead from the Department of Education's schools building programme which have been impacted by unforeseen delays during the design and procurement stages.

These concerns were echoed by Deputy Dillon.

An Taoiseach thanked Deputy Dillon for raising this important issue and for advocating on behalf of Davitt College.

He stated: “I can give him the assurance that we will sort this out.

"There are a number of school projects across the country that either have planning permission or have already gone to tender, and the tender has been awarded.

"We have run into a difficulty. The Department of Education is doing a brilliant job at building new schools and extending others.

"Because of the increase in construction costs, the money has begun to run out.

"We are going to have to allocate additional capital to it and the Ministers, Deputies Donohoe and Foley, and the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, are working on the details of that. We should be able to sort it out before the Easter break,” added An Taoiseach.