Laois TD says Kolbe Special School timeline commitment must be honoured
Work now scheduled to begin in Portlaoise by July 1 this year
The government is being called on to honour a commitment to begin work on the new Kolbe Special School in Portlaoise by July 1 this year.
Kolbe Special School in Portlaoise caters for some of the most vulnerable children in the county. Its 44 students are being taught in unsuitable conditions with inadequate space and few facilities in predominantly prefabricated rooms.
The new €9 million school project has been dogged by delays and setbacks and was even put on hold last year due to budgetary concerns, a move that sparked outrage and led to a high profile campaign. The government ultimately gave the go ahead for the project but distrust remains given the delays and promises of the past.
Parents, staff and students have waited for more than two decades for a new school for the vulnerable children in the county.
Sinn Fein Deputy Brian Stanley said “The latest commitment given by the Department and the Minister to begin construction before the 1st July needs to be honoured. There have been too many delays with this project with promises broken on a number of occasions. I have consistently raised this over the years with successive Government Ministers and it is now well past time to see concrete being poured.’’
Deputy Fleming said Minister for Education, Norma Foley and the Secretary General of the Department of Education had given the commitment in a response to his question on the matter.
“The large scale capital project at the Kolbe school referred to by the Deputy is assigned to my Department’s ADAPT (Accelerated Delivery of Architectural Planning and Tendering) programme.
This project is included in My Department’s Construction Programme which will be delivered under the National Development Plan (NDP) as part of Project Ireland 2040 framework.
Necessary enabling works completed on site in early April 2024,” the response states.
The Department set out the steps involved in the process and said:
“The Design Team for the project issued the Letter of Intent to the successful contractor on the 20th February 2024.The project is currently at the final stage of Architectural planning Stage 3 – Tender Action and Award.”
“It is envisaged that the project will commence on site in Quarter 2 2024, with a construction period of 18 months,” the response stated.