TD claims Offaly school is being treated “with utter contempt”

INDEPENDENT TD Carol Nolan has said she will be requesting an emergency debate with the Minister for Education and Youth Helen McEntee following confirmation she has received regarding works approved for St Brendan’s Community School in Birr in 2018 that have yet to begin.

Deputy Nolan has previously highlighted what she termed “the glacial pace” of the works progression which include an ASD wing, an extension project, and glazing upgrades.

However, despite the seven-year period that has elapsed since 2018, the school still has no appointed contractor and no confirmed start date for any of the works.

“This is perhaps one of the most egregious examples of how departmental bureaucracy and inertia continues to adversely impact a wonderful school that is in desperate need of assistance. Schools would need the patience of Job dealing with it,” said Deputy Nolan.

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“I find it astonishing that the contractor has yet to be appointed when time and again the school leadership and Board of Management have made it absolutely clear that the current facilities are not fit for purpose.

“I have said it before; if a minister’s department had roofs leaking, ongoing unsanitary conditions, health and safety risks and an unworkable environment for staff, then those issues would be resolved at lightning speed.

“But when it comes to our schools, our children and teachers are simply told to ‘sit back and be patient; give it a few a years’ and we might get around to you’. This is intolerable,” she said.

“As I understand it the Board of Management has now written to the architects under whose consultancy the contract works are due to be carried out, to express its deep disappointment and frustration, which I share.

“St Brendan’s needs to see tangible progress toward commencement alongside a clear and detailed explanation for the continued delays. It also needs a definitive timeline for contractor appointment and project commencement.

“That is what I will be demanding from Minister McEntee, the department and indeed the architects assigned to these works,” concluded Deputy Nolan.

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