Meath East TD, Darren O’Rourke, has slammed the department of education over the fact that Lismullen national school has been waiting 17 years for construction of a promised new building.He told Meath Live, “Lismullen National School is now 17 years waiting for a new school building. The current accommodation, inside and outside, is not fit for purpose. Children, staff, parents, the whole school community are being failed as a result.“I welcomed the opportunity to raise this matter in the Dáil this week and to outline the exceptional and urgent need for progress with new school building works. I outlined how the physical building is old and cold, that staff and pupils regularly have to wear hats and coats during the day, that heat is lost through paper-thin walls, and that energy bills are exorbitant.“Similarly, I outlined how the physical space means the PE curriculum is curtailed, with no gymnastics or dance strand. They have no assembly hall, so they cannot gather as a school community for school assemblies, for school plays, or for PE indoors, for example. These are things we take for granted, because we should be able to take them for granted. Not in Lismullen.

“I also highlighted how weaknesses in the school power supply means children are denied access to the usual ICT teaching and learning experience. Space is a constraint here too.
“Likewise, due to constraints of space, children with additional needs can’t access movement breaks, sensory gardens, and other supports that we come to expect in the modern school setting.

“It’s wrong. It’s as simple as that.

“Minister Josepha Madigan, in her response outlined the long planning history at the school. She said the school building project is a priority and that it will be progressed and delivered. This is important and welcome. She stopped short, however, of giving a clear date for the issuing of a Letter of Intent and the commencement of works. This is very disappointing.
“It is essential that she and Senior Minister, Norma Foley, treat this application with the urgency that it demands.

“This is the least that the wonderful school community at Lismullen National School deserves” Deputy O’Rourke concluded.