BREAKING: Breakthrough in delay for Laois special school

A delay on the building of a new home for a Laois special needs school has been lifted after the Government decided that it and 57 others around the country could goahead.

The Minister for Education, Norma Foley confirmed on Wednesday, April 5 that an agreement has been secured to guarantee and support the rollout and continuation of the Department’s school building programme which had been put on hold in March to check if there was enough money in the €12 bill National Development Plan to pay for the projects.

A statement said the Department of Education would update 58 schools in relation to the formal arrangements and next steps in respect of the delivery of their individual projects.

The original delay to Kolbe Special School caused outrage in Laois as they had previously been given the green light to build an €9 million new home on the Block Road in Portlaoise where 43 children with severe to profound disabilities receive their education.

Parents held a public meeting in Portlaoise which drew huge public support. A march was threatened to demonstrate public opposition to the delay. One of the school's most vulnerable students, Liam Ryan, travelled to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's office, to deliver photos of the poor-quality building. 

Government representatives in Laois welcomed the lifting of the restriction, which began after the Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohue said his Department needed to review spending on the 58 schools.

Fine Gael TD Charlie Flanagan stated that he has informed the principal of Kolbe School, Orlagh Mahon that he was very keen that outstanding issues were resolved before Easter.

“Kolbe School has been one of my priorities in this Dail and I look forward to it’s construction at the earliest opportunity,” he said.

Minister of State Sean Fleming was also pleased.

"Since the public meeting in Portlaoise, I have had a number of discussions with Minister Norma Foley T.D. and the School Authorities and parents in Kolbe Special School.

"Like everybody with an interest in Kolbe Special School I welcome this good news.  We all share the same aim of getting the new school built as soon as possible.

"The message from the entire school community and the people of Laois was to get the Kolbe Special School approved to progress to the tender stage.

"I gave a commitment at the public meeting that I would work to do so in the immediate future. 

"I want to especially thank everybody involved in the school community and the people of Laois and even the people outside Laois who showed their support for Kolbe Special School.

"During the last General Election I, as a candidate, stated that getting a new school for Kolbe was my number one priority. This is still my commitment and I will continue to work with everybody involved to ensure this becomes a reality.

"Finally, the students, staff, parents and families of those who attend Kolbe Special School must be fully supported.  I look forward to us all working together between now and when the new school is ultimately built and opened to replace the existing school building," Minister Fleming said.

The €9 million new school building has planning approval to be built next to the current building, with preliminary site works by ESB begun recently. 

Laois special student brings campaign for new school to Varadkar's door

'Too many empty promises' Kolbe parent's passionate plea

The Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe had said in early  March that he wanted to check if there is enough money in the plan to fund Kolbe and the other schools.

A public meeting was then organised by Kolbe Special School, to a packed audience, where staff and parents descibed the poor conditions.

The school had said if the situation was not resolved by Thursday, April 6, they would make an announcement about a public march on the streets, describing the excuses for delaying the building as "ludicrous".

"There has been zero engagement to date from the Minister or the Department of Education, notwithstanding assurances to parents from the Secretary General of the Department and assurances to Sean Fleming from the Minister that they are confident this matter will be resolved.

"All we have had is a list of ludicrous and often contradictory excuses as to why the new build cannot be progressed eg capital funding, a matter of timing and then Sean Fleming told us the Dept accepted we should never have been on that list," group representative and parent Orlaith Kerrigan told the Leinster Express on Monday, March 3.

Minister Foley TD commented. 

"These projects will provide new and modernised facilities for our school communities and are an important aspect of the Department’s overall delivery under the Government’s National Development Plan. I would like to thank my Cabinet colleague Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, Paschal Donohoe who worked tirelessly with me and my Department officials in order to facilitate the delivery of these urgently required school building projects.”

Minister Madigan said: “I am very pleased that we will be able to deliver on the planned school building projects. Many of these will support and enable the inclusion of students with special educational needs, in modern facilities.”

The Department of Education adds that it completed over 180 projects completed last year within a challenging environment.  This year alone, over 300 school building projects are currently under construction, including 40 new school buildings and 260 projects at existing schools. There are also over 1,000 other school building projects in the Department’s pipeline at various stages of development. The Department also continues to support schools with the successful integration of over 15,000 Ukrainian students within the school system.