Boyne Community School extension
Deputy Dempsey pressed for progress on the long-delayed Boyne Community School expansion in Trim. The Taoiseach said the large refurbishment and extension project was actively progressing through stage 2A and involved design and statutory preparations.
I wish to ask about Boyne Community School in my hometown of Trim, which was granted an extension well over a decade ago now. The Department is well aware of the situation and the need for the school to grow. It is so aware that it has granted 24 prefabs over the years to accommodate the growing school community. A few years ago, a site was purchased for the only girls secondary school in the town and the Gaelscoil to co-locate on a state-of-the-art campus. It somehow has jumped ahead. It is at stage 2B, whereas the Boyne Community School languishes at 2A. My question is really about the policy around the school building list. It is not transparent. If a school goes on that list, why it is not done in the order it goes onto it?
Comment on this
First of all, I thank the Deputy for her long-standing advocacy and work on this project. It is a large-scale project involving both refurbishment and extension of Boyne Community College. It is actively progressing through stage 2A, with work ongoing. As the Deputy knows, stage 2A involves a design team, developing designs, full cost planning of the campus project, and preparing documentation to facilitate the lodging of statutory approval applications to Meath County Council as part of stage 2B. There are complexities on the site in terms of design. Work is ongoing to bring this stage to a conclusion as soon as possible. The Deputy is correct that significant modular accommodation has already been provided to the school. The next step is obviously to complete this stage 2A process. The issue then from a funding and policy position is to get it funded once we get through stage 2A to stage 2B. That is an issue that the Government is considering more generally in respect of school accommodation. A number of projects have been sanctioned, but there is a big-----