Waterford children being 'crammed' into sports hall for classes in local school

Children are being “crammed” into a sports hall for classes in a Co Waterford school, the Dáil has heard.

The issue was raised by Waterford Sinn Féin TD Conor D. McGuinness during a recent debate on school building projects.

Deputy McGuinness asked if there was an update on plans for an extension to Scoil Garbháin in Dungarvan.

He said: “The school got word in January this year that the long-awaited and much-needed extension had been approved.

“It was told in February that it would hear within six weeks from the technical team in the Department.

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“Over nine months later, it has yet to hear despite frequent correspondence from me. I have also raised the matter with the Taoiseach.

“The school has raised it repeatedly with officials in the department but its representatives are still none the wiser. The school is at capacity and is having to turn children away.”

In response, Minister of State Michael Moynihan provided a timeline of the process the school has undertaken in looking for an extension.

While not providing any indication of when a decision might be made, he went on to describe what will be taken into consideration.

Deputy Moynihan said: “A decision will be made in relation to the school's application for additional accommodation shortly in the context of overall programme management.

“This decision will take account of overall school place needs, including for children with special education needs, and in cognisance of demographic projections, capacity across schools in the area and the extent to which schools are prioritising local school place needs.”

Deputy McGuinness said he was “bemused and bewildered” at the Minister of State’s “copy-and-paste, generic response”.

He continued: “I do not know how the Minister of State's response tallies with the correspondence I have seen from the Department of Education.

“Talking about the demographic, the analysis and all that is, to be quite frank, rubbish.

“Children are being educated in partitioned areas in the sports hall, which is the one indoor facility the school has for recreation. It is not good enough. That is on top of the prefabs that are already there.”

In response, Deputy Moynihan said that it was the department’s understanding that “there was a huge amount of work to be done” on the application.

He added that as soon as a decision is made, the school will be notified.

Deputy McGuinness described himself as “dumbfounded” following the interaction. “Children are still being crammed into partitioned-off parts of a sports hall. It is utterly unsatisfactory”, he added.

In February, Waterford City and County Council granted planning permission for the extension of Scoil Garbháin in Dungarvan.

The school was told shortly after that its representatives would hear from the Department of Education’s technical team within six weeks to progress the project.

Nine months later, the school is yet to hear from the department with regards the proposed extension.