Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for taking time to take this Topical Issue matter again. We are all familiar at this stage with St. Gabriel's Special School in Cork, which caters for children with profound intellectual disabilities and with a dual diagnosis, including autism. Its staff do great work and this needs to be recognised.

The picture of St. Gabriel's Special School I am about to pain is not a pretty one. We have heard this before because we have been talking about this since 2018. I first became familiar with the school on the election trail in January 2020. I and a number of other candidates visited the school and I promised I would return if I was elected. Thankfully, the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, visited the school with me in the summer of last year before Covid restrictions were reintroduced. It is safe to say that she was also appalled at what she was confronted with.

There are only so many times we can talk about being appalled, only so many buckets that will collect water from leaking roofs and only so many electrical deficiencies in a building that one can say will pass health and safety rules. Children cannot access washing facilities and toilets because their wheelchairs will not physically fit through a door. That is how basic things are at St. Gabriel's. From the staff point of view, it is fundamentally wrong that we are asking them to work there every day. However, nobody can forget about what the children have to go through every day.

We see other new buildings across the country and massive extensions being added to mainstream schools. I refer to the Taoiseach's comments. He was not the Taoiseach at the time, but in April 2018 he visited the school. He pointed out that parents say they feel forgotten and that their children who should be our first priority are not. The Taoiseach was right when he made those comments. I am aware that a number of engineers and architects have visited the school over the last few months, so I am seeking an up-to-date report on that progress, what is likely to be the position in the coming months and the work that is likely to go ahead in St. Gabriel's during the summer.

See this speech in context