Department of Education must urgently meet with Navan Road schools to move forward rebuilding project

Roderic O’Gorman TD at St John Bosco Senior School

I am disappointed at the failure of the Department of Education to meet with the three Navan Road primary schools (St. John Bosco Junior Boys’ School, St. John Bosco Senior Boys’ School and Mary Help of Christians Girls’ National School) to discuss the rebuilding project for those schools. I had this issue raised as a short debate in the Dail today (Wednesday 10 December).  

The three great schools in question – John Bosco Junior, John Bosco Senior and Mary Help of Christians – are all waiting on a desperately needed rebuild of their campus. Students in all three schools are in buildings that are old, prefabs that are musty, with singled glazed windows and cold classrooms. The schools have come together to plan a new education campus on their site off the Navan Road, but the Department of Education is dragging its feet.

At the end of October, the Design Team employed by the three schools completed an additional report on the new building and were meant to meet the Department of Education to discuss this. However, this meeting was cancelled at short notice by the Department. Now the schools are told that the report won’t be looked at until the New Year, and there is no date for the schools and the Department to meet.

In the Dail today, I called on the Minister to give the schools a clear timeline. Their Design Team is ready to engage with the Department and move this project on. I was disappointed that I didn’t get any clear date for a meeting. I have asked the Minister to come back to both me and the three schools to give them a firm commitment on when the meeting will be held.

Moving forward the rebuild project for these three schools is absolutely crucial. Both myself and Green Party Councillor Feljin Jose will continue to push the Department of Education on this issue.