'Bureaucracy and red tape' threaten Kildare school places

A Social Democrat councillor has warned that “bureaucracy and red tape” threaten the delivery of temporary accommodation for a Prosperous school.

According to Cllr Paula Mulroe, St Farnan's is waiting on temporary accommodation to come from another Kildare school to be able to accommodate 30 children on its waiting list.

However, the councillor has warned that administrative delays could prevent children on the waiting list from getting a school place.

“There are 30 kids on the waiting list for a school place for the 2025/26 school term and the school is waiting on temporary accommodation from Monasterevin in order to fulfil the demand for August/September intake,” Cllr Paula Mulroe told Kildare Now.

“St Farnan's and other KWETB schools do not deal directly with the Department of Education so there is another layer of administration because they have to go through KWETB first with any decisions.

“In the case of St Farnan's the fact that they have planning granted for a new building means that any decisions to place temporary accommodation on the existing site must go through KWETB, architects, and this can take a considerable amount of time.

“But more importantly, it leaves the school with an ever-decreasing window of opportunity to get the classrooms approved, on-site and built.”

The last time a temporary or modular structure was erected on the site it took six to eight months to build, Cllr Mulroe pointed out, adding there is no indication of a decision or movement on the temporary fix for the classrooms.

“There are specific requirements in terms of the resources that the rooms must fill. For instance, one of them needs to be a science lab. There is limited capacity in some classrooms given the nature of the activities such as science and engineering and it may affect subject choices for kids but also could impact mandatory subjects.”, she said.

According to Cllr Mulroe, St Farnan's is currently operating at 98.5% capacity and will reach 700 pupils in September.

Her party colleague, Cllr Claire O’Rourke, who sits on the KWETB Board, outlined the situation in St Farnan’s at a board meeting on Tuesday, March 25.

KWETB responded that they were waiting on the Department of Education to move and were hoping for a response from them as soon as possible, but they admitted that correspondence from the Department can take up to two months.

Deputy Aidan Farrelly has called on the Department to respond as quickly as possible.

“This delay is of little help to the principal of the school who will need lead-in time to assemble the structures, recruit teachers, and plan for the next academic year,” he said.

“In this situation, St Farnan’s should now be an urgent priority and answers are required from the Department of Education so that children can be assured of school places for the 2025/26 academic year.”

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