Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for her reply. I know she has a commitment to special needs from her time as a member of the Committee of Public Accounts along with me. It is an issue she cares about. However, no words can explain the level of need of the children in Kolbe Special School. They are children of high dependency. A huge amount of equipment is needed. This is no ordinary school. Large pieces of equipment have to be stored in prefabs and all over the place to try to facilitate the operation of the school.

There is an issue of health and safety for the staff and the 40 pupils. In a letter dated 28 June 2022, staff raised concerns with me about their ability to provide a safe environment for pupils and others.

There is a public meeting tonight. I, and hopefully Deputy Flanagan, will be attending if we can get out of the Dáil on time. Parents and staff are very concerned about the matter. The site has been secured and planning permission is in place. It is a ready-to-go project. As regards the ESB, I can assure the Minister of State that the ESB will leave no stone unturned to get this work done. We can put pressure on it locally. When we ask the ESB to pull out the stops on a special project, it does so. The county council has fast-tracked the project and has done everything we wanted it to do. Therefore, everything is ready to go. The Minister of State is in the Department of Finance. I realise that is not the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform but it is fair to say they are brother and sister. They are in the same building and operate closely together. I ask Deputy Carroll MacNeill, as a new Minister of State, to use her position to get answers for Deputy Flanagan and me today on this so we can give good news to the people of Portlaoise and the rest of County Laois tonight. I thank the Minister of State.

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