BREAKING: Breakthrough in delay for Laois special school
In the nick of time ahead of a promised public march, a Laois special needs school has been restored as a priority building project.
Kolbe Special School in Portlaoise which teaches 43 children with severe to profound disabilities, is now back on track to build its long required new building.
Local TD Charlie Flanagan was first to confirm that the issue of funding for Kolbe Special School Portlaoise has now been resolved, in a statement to the Leinster Express / Laois Live.
It follows consultations on Wednesday morning, April 5, between Deputy Flanagan and Minister for Public Expenditure, Paschal Donohoe and the office of the Minister of State Josepha Madigan.
Not just Kolbe but all 58 schools have now received clearance to proceed to the next stage.
The formal letter of notification will now issue to the 58 schools from the Department of Education.
Deputy Flanagan stated that he has informed the principal of Kolbe School, Orlagh Mahon that he was he was very keen that outstanding issues were resolved before Easter.
At a public meeting in Portlaoise two weeks ago, he had said "it’s my firm view that it will be back on track by Easter".
Stating that he was very upset that the Kolbe School project was delayed at all, Deputy Flanagan said he is now pleased that matters are proceeding.
“Kolbe School has been one of my priorities in this Dail and I look forward to it’s construction at the earliest opportunity.”
Minister of State Sean Fleming has welcomed the announcement, having given a "guarantee" at the public meeting.
"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.
It follows a special visit by one of the school's most vulnerable students, Liam Ryan, to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's office, to deliver photos of the poor quality building. Read below.
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. Read more above.
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 for Education, Norma Foley TD confirmed that an agreement has been secured to guarantee and support the rollout and continuation of the Department’s ambitious school building programme.
This will facilitate the continued rollout of urgently required school building projects in both mainstream and special education settings, including those that were temporarily paused due to capital funding pressures.
“The Department of Education is committed to an ambitious Capital programme that delivers new and modernised facilities in school communities and Government is absolutely supportive of continuing this very ambitious and important programme of delivery. This will include provision for all of the 58 schools that were temporarily paused to progress to tender and construction stage and Department officials will contact those schools directly,” Minister Foley said.
"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.