School Accommodation
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-17
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Kieran O'Donnell (FG), Limerick City

I would like to thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. I am taking this matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Youth, Deputy Naughton. It gives the Department of Education and Youth the opportunity to discuss St. Mary’s Boys' National School, Lucan. I can see the Deputy has a deep personal interest, apart from being a TD for the area. I will give him the answer I have been provided with. If there are particular matters he wishes me to take back, I will deal with those on the conclusion.
The Deputy will be aware St. Mary’s Boys' National School, Lucan, is under the patronage of the archdiocese of Dublin. The school is in the Lucan school planning area. It had an enrolment in September 2025 of 495 pupils and a staffing of 21 mainstream teachers and three special class teachers.
In June 2022, the school was given approval under the additional school accommodation, ASA, scheme for a traditional build project to deliver four mainstream classrooms, three special education tuition rooms, two special education classrooms and one universal access WC, along with the repurposing of existing accommodation to create one special education classroom. This project was devolved to the school authorities for delivery and it is currently at stage 1 - preliminary design.
The purpose of the ASA scheme is to ensure essential mainstream classroom and special education needs, SEN, accommodation is available to cater for pupils enrolled each year where the need cannot be met by the school’s existing accommodation.
In March 2025, the school was sanctioned additional special education classes by the National Council for Special Education. The Department’s planning and building unit engaged with the school authorities with a view to encouraging the school to apply for the ASA scheme. On foot of this application the school was assessed to determine the best accommodation options available for special class provision and it was proposed that the Department’s modular framework would be utilised due to the demand for classes in the area. The modular framework involves the use of project management supports, which are designed to enable the accommodation to be provided as quickly as possible and ease the administrative workload for school authorities in relation to the management and delivery of projects.
The Department-appointed project manager visited the school and engaged with the school authorities in relation to the location of the proposed modular accommodation. The school authorities were anxious to preserve as much of the green area available at the school, which the Deputy mentioned, as possible and the Department endeavoured to facilitate this.
The site in question is challenging for many reasons due to its close proximity to the Liffey Valley proposed natural heritage area. It is within a designated riparian corridor and a flood risk zone. Officials from the Department met with the school authorities on the issues on a number of occasions to try to progress the project. There are fire safety considerations which also have to be addressed when considering the location of the modular accommodation due to the requirement for a turning circle for emergency services and proximity to a fire hydrant.
More recently, the school asked for another modular unit to be provided, along with the project currently under consideration, for the replacement of a prefab on site. The school authorities were advised that consideration of this would not be possible at this time.
The Department of Education and Youth recently published the €7.55 billion NDP sectoral investment plan for the education and youth sectors for the period 2026 to 2030. The plan involves a very strong emphasis on maximising existing capacity and prioritisation of school building projects to meet the urgent need.
At a recent meeting with the school authorities, departmental officials outlined that there was only one viable option available for the progression of modular accommodation at the school when considering the funding available to the Department and the site in question. The school authorities were reminded of the high need for special class places in the area and, to try to provide the necessary classes, it was agreed that a deadline of February 13 was required, as the Deputy referenced.
The Deputy will appreciate that the Department has been working with the school authorities for just under a year to try to progress the project. There is a degree of urgency due to the need in the area. Furthermore, the modular project being proposed would still leave the school with a large amount of green space available for use.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-17/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:38+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-17