Minister of Education Helen McEntee has indicated that she will meet local TDs to discuss long-standing calls for a new school building for one of the biggest primary schools in the northwest.
Scoil Mhuire in Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim, operates across two campuses with 460 students from 43 different nationalities enrolled.
The school was founded in 2013 with the amalgamation of St Mary's Boys and the Marist Convent Primary school in Leitrim's county town.
"We have done our waiting. I don’t think we should have to wait any longer," chairperson of Scoil Mhuire Board of Management Malachy Molloy said.
"We submitted an application in 2016 on the advice of the department. In 2019, we were told to upscale that to a full-scale application for large scale works which involved a new school.
"Frustration is putting it mildly," Mr Molloy added.
School principal Caroline Healy said running the school across both sites has been challenging.
"We have overcrowded classrooms, special education needs teachers working in corridor areas and a GP room being used for SEN provision as well.
"Pupils and teachers must walk between the two buildings for school gatherings or assemblies," Ms Healy said.
She said the Department of Education has helped with minor and emergency work and that two further prefabricated classrooms are expected within the next year.
"If you apply for emergency works you will get it eventually, if the need is there. We are looking for a long-term solution.
"We need the go-ahead for capital expenditure from the department or a promise that it will come. We need a new school on a greenfield site," Ms Healy said.
Jennifer King, who has three children at Scoil Mhuire, described the current two-campus set-up as "a serious juggle for parents".
A member of the New School Committee Louise Murray said Leitrim County Council has zoned land as a possible location for a new school building.
"We are constantly getting responses [from the department] that there’s enough provision in the town for new school places, that they’re aware of our case and they're looking at our case.
"We are proud of this school. We want it on one site with space for everybody," she said.
A Department of Education and Youth spokesperson said "while some schools may request a new building, most requests and needs can be met by using existing space better or adding extra rooms".
"Every school that applies to the department gets support to find the most appropriate solution for them, in the context of managing overall needs across the school estate," the spokesperson added.
They said the department has invested over €6 billion in schools throughout the country under the National Development Plan, involving the completion of over 1,400 school building projects since 2020.
The spokesperson said the recent allocation of funding under the National Development Plan will allow the department to plan its capital investment programme for the 2026 to 2030 period in line with prioritised needs.
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They said maximising existing capacity in schools to meet needs is very important in this regard.
The spokesperson said the progression of prioritised individual projects to meet the most urgent needs in the 2026 to 2030 period that cannot be met through existing capacity across schools in the local area will be considered on a rolling basis in this context.
The spokesperson added that applications from schools such as Scoil Mhuire for major capital works must be considered in the context of this overall capital investment programme.
The department is due to publish further details on its capital programme later in the autumn.
