Sarah O'Reilly (Aontú)

I welcome the support of Senator Gallagher, my neighbour from Monaghan, on this issue. Principals do not like to get politically involved or seek support, but sometimes it comes to a point where they feel they have no other option.

I want to raise the issue of the lack of spaces in St. Aidan's Comprehensive School in Cootehill. I was contacted by the principal because the school is facing a major problem again this year with space and accommodation due to the high numbers of students. By August 2024, the school will have 700 students. Its existing building has a lack of space and even though it was granted a traditional build project in 2021, four years later the project is stuck at design stage 2B. The school will be forced to cap enrolment and turn 37 children from local feeder schools away.

Last year, the school opened an ASD class by changing one of its mainstream classrooms. This stopgap cannot be repeated because there is simply no more space to reconfigure classrooms. The principal submitted an additional school accommodation, ASA, form in February, but there was no update from the Department. Rather, there was only an automatic response acknowledging the application with inaccurate details the principal has since tried to address, with no success.The deadline for offering school places is 30 October 2025, which is a mere two weeks away. The school finds itself in an incredibly difficult situation as they urgently try to find space rather than turn away students.

This is not a problem with Cootehill only. I will give an idea of where Cootehill is located. The next secondary school north of Cootehill is in Cavan town. Thirty-two students are being bused from Cavan town to Belturbet school because of a lack of space in schools in Cavan town. In 2020, Bailieborough Community School was approved for an extension twice its size. That school is overflowing with students and is waiting five years having been approved for an extension. That project is still at stage 2B. Another neighbouring school is in Kingscourt and due to a lack of space it is overflowing with students. In 2021, the school was approved for design stage 2B. Virginia College is another school that these pupils could attend and the same situation applies. In 2020, the school was approved but school works have not commenced.

Teachers, principals, and students are being put in an impossible situation. It is not like these students can go some place else. There is actually no place for them to go. My question is simple: where are 37 students supposed to go if the Department does not intervene before the end of the month?