James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The town of Maynooth has experienced rapid growth in the past 20 years or more as a primary commuter town in north Kildare. The school-going population at secondary level has multiplied in that time so that the demand now extends to 2,000 secondary school places. In this context an application was made for an extension of the then secondary school, Maynooth post-primary school, in 2009. Unfortunately, at that point a very sorry saga began to unfold. After that application for an extension was made, it was decided that, rather than extending the building, a new school was to be built and that another new school was to commence enrolling in the town. Maynooth community college was announced in 2012 and commenced enrolment in 2014. The decision to proceed with these two schools as two new school buildings on the Moyglare Road in Maynooth was made and the process began. Unfortunately, even after those decisions were made the process was fraught with delay. After painstakingly getting from 2012, when the decision was made to open Maynooth community college, to 2014, when it began enrolment, and on to 2016, when the tender finally issued, a problem then arose with the tender. Indeed, one of the first meetings I attended after being elected to this House was a meeting with the Minister and the parents and staff of the schools on Maynooth education campus to discuss the issue of that tender. That tender was sent back to the drawing board to be revised and a new tender was drawn up and awarded to Sammon Construction in 2017. I was happy to join the Minister, other Oireachtas Members, Councillor Naoise Ó Cearúil, the local parent groups and school staff at the turning of the sod in 2017.

It appeared at last that things were moving on again for the Maynooth education campus. Disaster struck last month when the Sammon Group announced it was going into liquidation. Our sympathies are with the 200 workers from that group, many of whom are local to Kildare and Meath, and the company as a whole. The company had been in examinership for some months. Work on the site has ground to a halt. The school is half built and is at a standstill. It is in limbo, as is the entire school community. We understand that tendering must occur again. The school that was initially due to open in the new buildings in 2016 is now to open in 2020. It is no less than an unmitigated disaster for parents, students, staff and the entire Maynooth community.

It is worth noting the conditions in the existing buildings. The two schools, which are currently located in 18 buildings, towards the bottom of Moyglare Road, are at breaking point. They lack the physical capacity to take any more students. There is a one-way system in operation in the current school. Children must walk one way around in order to avoid bumping into one another. Including in poor weather, children have to go outside their building to move from one place to another. Transition year students are already being educated in the shopping centre at Manor Mills, which is separate from the school site.

Management and students have done their very best but can do no more. Even allowing for the delays, and had the tender re-awarded in 2017 progressed, it was hoped to be in the new premises by Christmas 2018. Now they face a best-case scenario of September 2020.

I pay tribute to the school principals, Siobhán McCauley and Johnny Nevin, for all the efforts they have made, along with the parent-teacher association and school community, to manage the situation to this point. They now need some clarity and direction, however. This is the third tender issued for the schools. One can say there is no point crying over spilt milk but it beggars belief that, considering the company was in examinership and with a liquidation quite likely, no contingency plan appears to have been put in place. What would happen if the very predictable outcome, liquidation, actually occurred? I fail to understand how that was not spotted by the Department or patrons. What are the next steps? How quickly can the school be delivered? Can the process be expedited given the delays that have beleaguered this project for almost ten years at this stage? What are the best and worst timescales? I seek answers to give the school community some comfort and clarity regarding the road ahead for the buildings that are so urgently needed.

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