Pressure on Bruton to deliver Whitecross NS
LOCAL politicians say they will keep the pressure on the Minster for Education for the new school building for Whitecross National School, Julianstown to finally begin construction in Spring 2019.
Deputies Declan Breathnach and Fergus O’Dowd have both moved to assure constituents that they will not allow a further delay to the long-awaited new facility.
“Whitecross School has been approved for a new school for more than a decade now, yet construction is still to get underway for the project. This school provides school places for a large catchment area and it’s unacceptable that the project has been put on the long finger for so long,” Deputy Breathnach told the Drogheda Independent.
“This is something which I have raised directly with the Minister in a Parliamentary Question in 2016 and was told the project was ready to go to tender. I raised it recently again with our Fianna Fáil Education Spokesperson who in turn pressured Minister Bruton for action on the project. Yesterday officials from the Department of Education confirmed that construction on the project is finally set to get underway early next year. This is long overdue, but it’s positive to see that the project is now moving forward.”
The Whitecross Design Team submitted a revised Stage 2(b) submission to the Department on 13th March 2018. Upon review of this submission and providing no issues arise, the Department said it will revert to the school with a timeframe for progression of the project to tender stage. A tender stage normally takes 7-8 months to complete. ‘
Deputy O’Dowd echoed the comments in a brief statement, saying he will ‘continue to press the Minister for Education for the construction of the school to commence as soon as possible’.