Department’s refusal to pay 65,000 rent bill scuppers parents’ school plan

Education Correspondent

Their parents had spent almost two years planning to open the Limerick City East Educate Together school and were granted provisional approval by the department in May to open this week. But after finding a suitable premises to start up with two junior infant classes, they were astounded when officials said they would not foot the rent as the full building would not be in use for the first four years.

The owner of the building on the Dock Road in the city, purpose-built for educational use, was willing to make it available for at least five years at an annual cost of just 65,000.

The Department of Education replied to the group’s final application a fortnight ago with the disappointing news.

“The proposal was considered in the context of the school’s initial requirements for accommodation for an estimated 35 pupils. On the basis of value for taxpayers’ money, the Department can not justify paying for this level of accommodation at this time when the initial requirement is considerably less,” a spokesperson said last night.

Terry Twomey, spokesperson for the parents who should have enrolled their children in the new school on Monday, said it was a frustrating end to their campaign.

“We got the children enrolled at short notice in denominational schools, but not in a school of the ethos of their choice. The whole application system is so bureaucratic, we will have to wait until next year to try again because everything was left so late by the Department,” he said.

The chairperson of the acting board of management Ingo Biggs said it was ironic the Department of Education was not willing to pay 65,000 a year, but it could cost them millions of euro to build a new school on a greenfield site.

Educate Together, an umbrella body for multi-denominational schools which supported the East Limerick application, has serious concerns about the situation.

“On one hand, we’re told we have to source temporary accommodation for seven to 10 years, and when we locate a building the Department refuses to provide the necessary funding,” said development officer Jane McCarthy.

The Limerick parents must now prepare a new application and find another place to locate the school in time for next summer.