Victor Boyhan urges temporary site for Mountainside Montessori

Thank you. Firstly, Minister, I want to welcome you. I spoke with the Minister yesterday outside here, the Sianeth, and she did hope or she indicated she hoped to be here for this commencement matter, but clearly she is not able to attend, so I am sorry about that, but I want to thank you and welcome you for agreeing to step in in her place. I acknowledge it is in your department. However, I will set out the case as I understand it to be. Firstly, I was contacted by the independent Councillor Michael Fleming in Steppeside in County Dublin, who asked me to meet with the parents of the Mountainside Montessori in Steppeside County Dublin. I also met with the management of the Montessori at their Mountainside. So, Mountainside Montessori at Holy Trinity National School is an inclusive preschool service provider. They are fully committed to offering equal access to all children, families, inclusive of gender, civil status, religion, age, race, disability, family and membership of the travelling community. They offer an open door policy at all times throughout the school year and encourage close collaboration and partnership with the parents and the guardians of the children. Mountainside operates the ECI scheme, which offers up to two years for preschool education, three hours per day, to children at the age of two years and eight months. They open from 9am to 1pm Monday to Friday, and most of the children would follow on then to the school that is on the same site, which is the Holy Trinity School, and they follow the Holy Trinity School calendar. The DLR, which has done the community section of the council, is fully aware of the issues. They have been raised with the county child care committee, and they have been engaged with the Mountainside Montessori looking at various options, but nothing has been delivered. So, effectively, Montessori having reached and received notice from the Holy Trinity National School in 2024, that their space is now utilised and are no longer available to them. To date, this has not been successful in terms of, as I said, securing an alternative. Families impacted by the cessation of the Mountainside Montessori currently operate from Holy Trinity National School, and are, of course, very anxious where they will be going in September. So, this is a very reasonable and accessible and inclusive Montessori. It's a hugely growing area in South County Dublin, so working parents today, you know, are thinking of maybe having to pull out of work. They do not know where their children will be going on the 1st of September, and I think that's a disappointment. I am aware, and it was brought to my attention, that there are a number of prefabs vacant at the Stepper side to Educate Together, a secondary school, which is very close to Holy Trinity, and would be perfect for the Montessori use under an agreed licence and subject to any terms and conditions required by TUSLA. They are, of course, approved by TUSLA. They are compliant with all the regulations, so it's not an issue. And clearly, this is about resources. And I'm talking about an intra-measure for the next year. So, we have a problem on our doors, or the government, or your department, and certainly the TDs in the constituency have a problem on their hands at the 1st of September. So, I understand it, and I've seen correspondence from the Department of Education, which I had hoped to put to the Minister here today, but she's not here. And I quote, I wish to advise, this is from the Principal, I wish to advise that the Department of Education has instructed us that any existing rental agreement should not be renewed. And no other rental agreement should be entered into in the interim in terms of accommodation at the Stepper side school site, that's the ETSS, the Educate Together site. The Department is currently reviewing accommodation requirements for the Stepper side ETS to establish which units will be retained. These are the prefabricated units will be retained, and what will need to be removed to facilitate the construction of phase two of a school building project. So, in essence, Minister, these people involved, all of the children, all their parents, are very anxious. They need an interim facility. And all that's been sought is the use of empty prefabs on a school site for not even 12 months, from September to next June. And I hope that the Department will commit to that. I think they need to do something. We will hear, of course, pronouncements and condemnations by all TDs cross-party, and none in the next few weeks. But I think we now have time on the side to do something. Thank you. Senator Arra? Thank you, Cahirlach. And thank you, Senator Boyan, for raising this issue. And the way you've described Mountainside Montessori School, it sounds like an incredible Montessori school. It sounds inclusive. It sounds open. It's exactly the type of model that we should have in terms of our Montessori schools. And clearly there's an urgency there, because September is looming, and there needs to be a solution in place. I'm not sure my answer is going to provide much satisfaction in terms of the use of the prefabs, but I will endeavour to bring back to the Minister and try and find some solution. I want to thank the Senator for raising this matter, as it allows me an opportunity to provide an update to the House on the current position in relation to the School Building Project for Step Aside Educate Together Secondary School. The School Building Project for Step Aside Educate Together Secondary School will deliver a new 1,000-pupil post-primary school and accommodation, including six classrooms for children with special education needs. The project has been delivered in two phases. Phase one of the project is delivered under the Department's Design and Build programme and completed in April 2024. The phase one project delivered accommodation for approximately 680 pupils and accommodation including four classrooms for children with special education needs and special education needs and a PE hall. The phase two project is being delivered under the Department's employer-led design programme, which uses a professional external project manager to coordinate and drive the design team to achieve the best possible time frame for the project through the stages of the architectural planning and tender and construction. Phase two will deliver the balance of the accommodation for approximately 320 pupils and the accommodation including two classrooms for children with special education needs plus external classes. The phase two project for Step Aside Educate Together Secondary School is currently at tender stage with tenders returned on 2 May 2025. Tenders are currently being evaluated by the project manager and design team and a tender assessment report will be prepared for the Department's consideration. Projects are subject to the relevant due diligence at each stage in the process with the context of overall programme and budgetary parameters. Step Aside Educate Together Secondary School is currently accommodated in its new phase one school building as well as an interim accommodation located on the permanent school site in Leopardstone. A review of the accommodation on site was undertaken by the design team to determine how the school's accommodation needs will be managed up to and during construction of the phase two project. The modular units installed on site between 2020 and 2022 were to accommodate the school pending delivery of their new permanent school building. Now that the accommodation review is complete some of the rental accommodation has been scheduled for removal in the coming weeks with the remainder of the rental accommodation be retained on site for use by the school pending delivery of the phase two project. The contract for rental of the modular accommodation is between the department and the contractor and there are no plans to enter any third party agreements in relation to same. The programme for government commits to expand the provision of after school and child care in school buildings and buildings and campuses in tandem with the school building programme to provide better access for parents and communities. The department supports and encourages the use of school buildings for community and recreational purposes where this is feasible including the provision of early learning and child care services. The procedures are available for each school to refer to for guidance. Given the complexities for delivering the phase two school building project with a live school on site it is unlikely that a move by mountainside Montessori to step aside and educate together secondary school could be facilitated and mountainside Montessori should consider all options available to them. So that is absolutely not the answer you are looking for Senator. I get the complexities in terms of when you have a live school on site and the use of those modular buildings that are there on site at the moment. On the other hand the suggestion does make sense for many reasons is that you have these modular rooms on site and the phase two of the the educate together school is going ahead. Certainly I will offer back to the minister to see is there any type of innovative way that the Montessori school can be accommodated. You know it's probably not good enough to go back and say you know they have to discuss options. I think we have to collaborate together in this to ensure that those parents who are sending the school to the Montessori school have a solution before September. Thank you Minister. Yeah I was as you were reading it I was going through it line by line and the very last line I was wondering would we be talking about the same place at all when I see the very last line mountainside Montessori should consider other options available to them. It's not very encouraging for government policy that's encouraging them but what this does and I always say about all of these things it puts it on the record so there's no talking out of both sides of people's mouths in the constituency about what's actually happening. I'll circulate this today to the media and to all politicians in that constituency and the councillors and let them advocate for the people. I don't live in this this constituency even but I think it's important and one of the great benefits of a commencement matter is that you have it now on the record. So this is not an encouraging day from government to the community of Steppeside and this particular Montessori school but I do welcome and thank you for agreeing at least to take it back. We have of course county child care committees but come hell or high water. These people want a place for their children. There are parents listening in here this morning who will be contacting their employers to say actually we may be taking career breaks. We can't put our two and three year olds in to support and I think that's a pity because there's been a very positive partnership between the existing primary school on site and this and clearly we don't want to stop the program. I want to make it very clear here on the record we don't want to stop phase two. It'd be interesting to see when phase two is actually starting. You know is this another one of these phases is going to be sitting there for another 12 months but look I do appreciate Minister that you're going to take it back to the department. I'll continue to talk to the public representatives this afternoon and I'll certainly be asking them now because they've time on their side to politically mobilize and get commitments. Thank you. Thank you again Senator Boyan. Look I know you don't live in the constituency but to be fair to you are always representing your counsellors and representatives in that area and you're doing so again today. I get it again my I suppose priority and concern is with the parents and the children who are all set up to avail of the Montessori school service in September and they must be anxious in terms of not knowing where the future is and where they're going to be home so in that spirit I certainly will go back talk to the department and the minister and see at least if there can be some cooperative effort between the department the school and all other stakeholders to try and find a solution whether that's the modular bills on site at the moment or some other alternative I'll do that for you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.