St. Pauls School raised this week with Education Minister in the Dáil
Sinn Féin TD Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Education and Skills “the progress made in resolving the issues that are delaying the new [St. Pauls Secondary] School” in Monasterevin. Further to this Deputy Stanley asked the Minister about the availability of funding.
Speaking in the Dáil the Deputy said “I welcome that it has been put on the capital programme but there are technical problems holding it up. I wrote to the Minister and have been in contact with both the Department of Education and the County Council about it. There are many efforts being made to resolve this matter.
“The reply to my Dáil question indicated that there is progress being made at last on the school. The Minister stated that ”the design team in liaison with officials from the relevant authorities has identified a potential solution to the drainage requirements at the proposed site for the new school building. Officials from [his] Department are currently liaising with the relevant parties in order to secure the consents necessary to effect this solution.” Deputy Richard Bruton also stated that he ”assures that when projects reach a certain point, as had been the case this year, a block of schools are released to go to tender..[and that] funding is being provided.'”‘
Deputy Stanley replied “This is a huge issue because St. Paul’s in Monasterevin has been waiting for years to get onto the school building programme. There are significant capacity issues. At present, the school is full. Some students from the catchment area are attending schools in Athy, Portlaoise and Portarlington.”
“The new school was to proceed to construction this year and cater for 850 pupils. I have spoken to senior staff in the local authority about this matter on a number of occasions. I have also spoken to officials in the Department of Education and have been in contact with the Minister about it. The issue needs to be resolved. Kildare County Council has assured me on a number of occasions that it will provide every assistance to the Minister’s officials but it needs active engagement from them in order to move matters forward.”
Deputy Stanley concluded “I am glad to hear that a solution has been found and funding is still in place.
