Construction finally clear to start long awaited Laois Special School

The diggers are finally cleared to get busy building Kolbe Special School in Laois.

Sean Fleming TD, Minister of State, has announced that the Minister for Education has given approval to Kolbe Special School to appoint a contractor for the new Kolbe Special School building in Portlaoise.

He said that the school can now proceed to sign a contract with a contractor and organise the contractor to move on-site to begin construction works.

"The go-ahead to sign the contract is signed by the Minister. The job is finished, the cable is down. It is up to the builder now to start," he told the Leinster Express / Laois Live.

The tight timeline to build the new school is 18 months, if it is to be ready as promised for the school year 2025.

"The construction of the new school building must be completed by the contractor before September 2025, so that the new school will be ready for the children and staff to move into in September 2025.

"This is a very good day for the children and all involved in Kolbe Special School. There is now a clear end date for when the new school will be built.

"Thank you to the school management, teachers and staff, parents and everyone involved for all their hard work to get this project to this stage.

"I would also like to thank the Minister for Education for engaging with me on this issue on numerous occasions to ensure that a new school building project would be approved for Kolbe Special School.

"During the last general election, I gave my commitment and promised to deliver a new school for Kolbe Special School. When Sean Fleming makes a promise, he delivers on it," the Minister said.

A new building for Kolbe Special School was first promised in the year 2000. The school nurses and teaches 44 children with severe to profound disabilities. 

The latest holdup was a wait to get overhead electricity power cables placed under the ground on the site, on the Block Road in Portlaoise.