Department of Education criticised by Kildare councillors at latest Clane-Maynooth meeting

A number of councillors citicised the Department of Education at a Kildare County Council (KCC) meeting for not being proactive when it comes to allocating school places.

The sentiments were unanimously shared by local representatives at the latest Clane-Maynooth Municipal District (MD) meeting, which was held on Friday, July 7.

Independent Cllr Pádraig McEvoy motioned for KCC to 'prioritise analysis and reports from imminent publications of Census 2022 data by the Central Statistics Office, to inform urgent solutions to shortfalls of school places in the MD (Particularly in areas where population expansion has yet to align with investment in education capacities).'

Fine Gael (FG) Cllr Tim Durkan also made a similar motion, in which he called for KCC 'to request a report from the Local Community Development Committee (LCDC) for the MD on any analysis carried out in relation to the future development of current and/or new schools sites at primary and secondary level, given the increasing population in the district.'

Commenting further on his motion, Cllr McEvoy told KCC: "We are used to reacting to issues as they happen, but we need to have an idea of what is underway (by using the data)."

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He also criticised the attitudes of certain developers: "I was speaking to a developer a few days ago about the issues surrounding school places, and they said to me: 'Do they (the local children) really need an education?' There is a disconnect there."

His motion was supported by FG Cllrs Brendan Wyse and Brendan Weld, with the latter relating a story of a principal who was promised prefabs to accommodate an extra 30 First-Year students, only to be told that they would not be ready until after Christmas.

"The Department is very, very slow to react," he said.

Labour Party Cllr Angela Feeney pointed out that the Department also needs to take into consideration students with special needs.

Marian Higgins, who is a member of KCC’s Climate, Community, Environment And Water management team, said she agreed with the councillors, and added that the Department 'needs to have another look at Kildare, given the growth of the county.'

In response to Cllr McEvoy’s motion, KCC said: “The All-Island Research Observatory are contracted by LCDC to analyse Census 2022 as soon as it becomes available.

"This will highlight population growth and an assessment of population in 2022.

"However, Census 2022 does not provide information in relation to proposed planning developments which also impact on demands for schools," KCC concluded.

The members agreed to put the matter on KCC’s progress report.