Decade-long delay to Kildare Special School
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SOUTH Kildare Labour TD Mark Wall has called on the Government to urgently advance plans for a new building for St Anne’s school in the Curragh, warning that the project has already been delayed for a decade and faces further uncertainty as planning permission is on track to expire next year.
Raising the issue in the Dáil, Deputy Wall highlighted the challenging conditions facing students and staff at the school while they await progress on the long-promised development.
He said the project remains at Stage 2B of the design process, with little time remaining before planning permission lapses.
“The school has been waiting ten years for a new building,” Deputy Wall told the Taoiseach.
“Planning permission is due to expire next year. There is very little time for the school to get shovels into the ground and start building.”
Deputy Wall outlined a number of concerns about the current facilities, including the fact that there is only one accessible bathroom available for 40 students.
He also noted that more than a dozen children who use wheelchairs do not have access to inclusive play equipment during lunchtime and break periods.
He continued, explaining that the deteriorating condition of the existing school building is also placing additional financial pressure on the school, with rising day-to-day operational costs diverting funding away from essential educational and sensory equipment.
He urged the Taoiseach to intervene and seek an update from the Minister for Education on the status of the project.
Responding in the Dáil, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that the government would engage with the Minister for Education regarding the development:
He said: “This is a special school that needs to be provided.”
