School Accommodation Seanad Éireann — 2025-12-09 ============================================================ Alison Comyn (FF), Nominated by the Taoiseach Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I ask him to picture, if he can, rats and mice in classrooms, water dripping down the windows, and young children sitting in their coats trying to stay warm in a 60-year-old building. This is not a scene from centuries ago. It is happening today in Marymount National School in Ballsgrove in Drogheda, a busy, thriving school doing its very best to serve a growing community, including more than its fair share of students with special educational needs. The building dates back to 1969, and after more than half a century it is simply no longer fit for purpose. Staff and students contend daily with leaking roofs, persistent damp, poor insulation and even rodent infestations. Classrooms are cramped and overcrowded, with spaces constantly repurposed to cope with demand. Teachers are doing extraordinary work in conditions that no child or educator should have to endure. Most distressing of all is the impact on children with special educational needs. The school has just one small SEN room accommodating six pupils, meaning many others are taught in mainstream classes without proper facilities or spaces. Earlier this year, I helped the school to fight for a single SNA to add to its group. It is unfair to these children and to the teachers who are doing their utmost with so few resources. That is why this planned 20-classroom school is not just welcome; it is essential. It will provide four purpose-built special education classrooms, fully integrated into the main building with wheelchair access, sensory rooms, shower facilities and breakout spaces. It will finally give those children the environment they need to learn, develop and flourish with dignity. I spoke yesterday to the principal, Jane Kirwan, who told me that the school is happy to have a 20-mainstream-class school instead of a 24-mainstream-class school, and can only presume that this number has the evidence to back up what is coming down the tracks over the next ten years. There are a huge number of estates currently being built in the town and in and around the school’s parish, not to mention the influx of those coming from abroad. The school turns families away on a weekly basis. This project has faced decades of delay and disappointment. It was originally approved as a 24-classroom build. It was paused around the time of the general election last year and later reduced to a 20-classroom build. Planning permission was first submitted in June 2021. After a lengthy appeal, An Bord Pleanála granted approval in April 2022. Since then, the progress has been painfully slow. The Department's own records show that the project is now at tender stage, but the school community really needs certainty. It needs a clear timeline for when the tender will be completed, when construction will begin, and when the pupils and staff of Marymount National School will finally step into the modern school they deserve. Let us remember that this is not just bricks and mortar. For Drogheda, which is Ireland's largest town and is soon to be a city, this school represents a commitment to the future. Marymount National School has been the heart of that community since the 1960s. It has provided care, compassion and education under ever-increasing pressure. The staff, parents and children have waited long enough. They have done their part by making huge concessions to their original plans. Now it is time for the Department to do its part. I ask the Minister of State to make a clear commitment that this project will move further without further delay and that these children, including those with the greatest needs, will not have to spend another winter learning in damp, cold classrooms. For the town and the community, this is much more than a school building; it is a promise that every child in this rapidly growing area deserves to learn in safety, comfort and dignity. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2025-12-09/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:26+00:00 Sitting date: 2025-12-09