Department to contact Portlaoise school 'as soon as possible'

The Department of Education will notify Portlaoise’s Kolbe Special School about the progress of its new school building ‘as soon as possible’.

Staff at the school were informed that the planned new €8.7 million school, which had been expected to be delivered in autumn next year, was now on hold due to budgetary pressures. 

“There are currently 58 school building projects that are on hold in the Department for proceeding to tender and construction due to capital funding pressures,” a Department spokesperson said. 

“The Department of Education is very conscious of the need to support the operation of the school system and intends to provide clarity for individual schools about their school building projects as quickly as possible,” the spokesperson said. 

Kolbe Special School in Portlaoise has 41 pupils with complex needs. The school has been operating out of primarily prefabricated buildings without a PE Hall or Sensory Room and is unfit for the needs of its students.  

The Department of Education says it has a strong track record of delivery of school building projects and this was achieved in 2022 notwithstanding the wider construction sector environment of high inflation, labour shortages and supply chain issues.

“Circa. 300 school building projects continued in construction at the start of 2023, most of which will be completed in 2023/early 2024, this includes over 40 new school buildings. All of these projects are helping to support the operation of our schools, are delivered to the highest standards and are very energy efficient,” the spokesperson said. 

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“Key priorities for the Department of Education are supporting the operation of the school system and adding necessary capacity to cater for special education needs provision, mainstream demographics and catering for students from Ukraine and other countries under the International Protection system,” the spokesperson added. 

As part of its planning ahead for 2023, the Department said it is assessing its work programme and priorities in the context of its available funding.  It is also engaging with the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform in relation to capital funding pressures in order to continue to be able to adequately support the operation of the school system with rollout of school building projects to tender and construction in 2023 and minimise project delays to the greatest extent possible.

The spokesperson said that the Department will be providing clarity on the projects for each of the schools as soon as possible.