'Genuine safety risks' Longford school has persistent damp mould and is 'failing', says TD

A Longford-Westmeath TD has raised the issue of Cloontagh National School in the Dáil and highlighted how is is in crisis mode with 'genuine health, safety and well-being risks', prefab structural concerns and 'persistent damp mould, maggots and flies in the classroom'.

The Sinn Féin's Sorca Clarke said the conditions in 2026 are 'simply not acceptable' and the two-teacher rural DEIS school in Killashee parish is still awaiting the delivery of a long-awaited special classroom.

Deputy Clarke, who described the problems last Thursday in Leinster House, said she visited the school recently and she was struck by the artwork, the colour, the kids out in the yard having fun 'as all kids should be' and the passion that the teachers and the staff had.

"However, that could not and will not hide the reality of the condition of the buildings in which the children are being taught.

"There is constant damp. There is mould on the walls, the ceilings and even on the floors. Dehumidifiers are running constantly.

"Equipment and laptops in use by the teachers have been replaced due to moisture damage."

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Deputy Clarke said the principal wrote to the Department in November outlining how the school was in crisis mode and had genuine health, safety and well-being risks.

"A photograph I am showing here from an engineer's report was also sent to the Department.

"It shows glue sticks black with the mould from being in that classroom. This is simply not good enough from any school, never mind a primary school.

"The biggest concern that was outlined to me was the prefab structure that is also on-site. It is decades old and it is clearly failing.

"That engineer's report from February of this year shows visible deterioration of the external walls, mould growth inside the toilet area, water ingress through the ceiling, and even lifting floors and peeling walls inside the teaching space.

"The accommodation itself in the prefab is a small lobby, a toilet and a classroom and the only way I can describe the floor in certain areas of that prefab is that it is squishy when you walk on it.

"No prefab floor should be squishy when you walk on it but that is exactly what is happening.

"There is also significant and concerning signs of structural instability in that prefab and that is the reality for those kids today."

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Deputy Clarke said the principal also "wrote to the Department last year describing persistent damp mould, maggots and flies appearing inside the classroom, heating that cannot keep the building warm and the damage to the ICT equipment because of the moisture level, clearly stating how the school was in crisis mode and that the building is no longer fit for purpose".

Deputy Clarke, who insisted the principal is not exaggerating, added: "She is pleading for help because this school was already approved for a new building in 2022.

"The agreed designs were of the Department's standards and were well above what the school itself had originally asked for.
"Land has been purchased, designs prepared, engineers paid and plans drawn up but today those children are still in that same prefab and the building is simply not fit for purpose."

Minister of State Alan Dillon thanked Deputy Clarke for raising this matter and giving him the opportunity on behalf of the Minister for Education Hildegarde Naughton, to update the House on the current position regarding Cloontagh National School.

"The school is under the patronage of Bishop Paul Connell and a Catholic ethos is upheld. School enrolment has decreased from 23 in 2021 to 2022, to 14 in 2025 to 2026, reflecting the national decline in primary demographics.

"At a national level, primary enrolments are projected to decline by 100,000 over a ten-year period. In 2022, on foot of an application, accommodation was approved for this school under the additional school acsorcacommodation scheme.

"This project will provide one mainstream classroom, one special education needs classroom and ancillary.

"A stage 2 report was submitted to the Department officials in quarter 3 of 2025.

"This report is currently under review from both a technical and cost perspective.

"All projects, including this one, will undergo the necessary due diligence outlined in the infrastructure guidelines.

"Given the detailed nature of the evaluation process, the need to ensure full cost compliance, and the requirement to align the project with the prioritisation framework under the national development plan, this review process is necessarily thorough," he added.