“Minister Foley must ensure Drogheda Educate Together SS is delivered within 18 months”
Sinn Féin TD Imelda Munster has expressed concerns that the building of the Drogheda Educate Together Secondary School on the Mill Road in Mornington is only now at pre-planning stage and may not be ready to open until 2024 or later.
Teachta Munster says the Parents’ Building Committee at the school are very concerned to learn that the Department is only at a pre-planning stage, despite the Minister’s announcement that the school would be delivered under the Department’s Design and Build programme which usually takes 18 months or less.
“If the Department goes ahead with plans to merely provide portacabins at this stage and delays the delivery of the permanent building until 2024, it will cost the taxpayer an additional €500,000, at least” Deputy Munster said.
“The Parents’ Building Committee have said that they were not consulted by the Department in any shape or form since the Department secured the site for the permanent school. This is a familiar complaint, given the lack of consultation throughout the entire process to date.
“The Parents’ Building Committee has asked the Minister to contact them directly in order to provide reassurance that the permanent school is on track and will be open within 18 months under the Design & Build programme, and I fully support this request.
“There are thousands more homes being planned for the South Drogheda and Meath area in the coming years, and it is important that we plan now to ensure that the demand for school places will be met in the years ahead.
“I wrote to the Minister asking her to liaise with the Parents’ Building Committee at the earliest opportunity, and to ensure that the planning application is submitted in the coming weeks.
“I have also asked that she confirms that she is committed to the delivery of this project within 18 months under the Design and Build Programme.
“This week I again raised the issue in the Dáil and I will continue to pursue it until we have some clarity.”
