Some Building projects in Lucan and Rathcoole are delayed for over a decade
John Curran T.D. has criticised the Government for the number of school building projects in Lucan, Co. Dublin that are experiencing long delays in progressing to the construction phase and delivery of their approved upgrade and extension works. Deputy Curran made the comments during a special Dáil debate this week where he called on Minister for Education Joe McHugh to set out a clear timeline for the projects. “Lucan Community College has been looking for its extension which has been going through the process at this stage for more than a decade now and is now stuck at the Stage 2B of the detailed design stage for a ridiculous amount of time. “Griffeen Community College is currently housed in temporary accommodation and plan to move to more alternative temporary accommodation during the 2019/2020 school year and will continue to share parts of Kishogue Community College for their specialist rooms while they wait for their new school project to go through the various planning and design stages. While the school are doing everything they can to accommodate their students as best they can; Griffeen Community College is growing and being temporarily moved around is a disruption for teachers and students.
“Holy Family Community School in Rathcoole was identified in 2004 as needing a new 1,000-student building within seven years. According to the most recent reply, it is at stage 2b. The irony is that its identification as requiring a new school and significant upgrades means it has not been able to avail of the summer works scheme since 2004 and the school building is simply not sustainable.
“Divine Mercy Senior and Junior National School in Lucan had a design team appointed in January 2014. The most recent reply from the Department states that it remains at stage 2b. The concern is clearly indicated by the principal who wrote last winter as follows: “After the past two days rain, the roof in the prefabs has five serious leaks. I have had to evacuate and relocate a class of eight and nine year olds to another substandard classroom as the caretaker endeavours to fix the problems. As we are only at the start of the winter, I am at a loss to know what to do. Should I have the whole roof repaired at a substantial cost or is it to be razed to the ground.
“These are the ongoing problems that schools in Lucan and Rathcoole face while waiting to progress their projects. Many school building projects seem to be undergoing a longer than normal Stage 2 (b) process and appear to be stuck in the Detailed Design Architectural Planning Stage and not making any progress towards the tender stage and construction.
“I am calling for an emergency school building plan, which needs to be funded, to be implemented to deal with the schools already announced by Fine Gael. In addition, I am calling for the Department to meet every school that is experiencing longer than normal delays at Stage 2 (b), in order to let the schools know exactly what is happening and when they will start to be built,” concluded Deputy Curran.
