Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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I concur with what Deputy Flanagan has said. The school is in dire need of a new building. No words of mine can overstate this. I have visited the school several times, as have several Ministers. The children of the school need support at a high level. It is a special needs school and almost 40 children attend, with the number increasing each year. The conditions in the school are totally intolerable. There are prefabs and only one solid classroom. It is the worst case I know of. Large equipment is stored all over the place and the staff and pupils have endured a lot. I have raised this with successive Ministers for Education, including Mr. Ruairí Quinn, Deputy Bruton, Deputy McHugh and the current Minister, Deputy Foley, but here we are again.

Solemn promises were made by current Ministers to the effect that money would be available for the project and that work would proceed. On 9 May 2018 the previous Minister, Deputy McHugh, told me in the Chamber that the project was in the programme for 2018 and that money was not a constraint, meaning it was not a question of the project being delayed for financial reasons. The Minister of State, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, is in the Department of Finance. Both Opposition and Government Deputies want results on this for Laois–Offaly. The go-ahead has to be given. Four days before the works were due to go to the next stage, the school was informed they were put on hold and pushed to one side. Only the previous Friday, the architectural team was given the go-ahead to move ahead with another part. Without any warning, the project was pushed to one side. This is not good enough, and we need to get this back on track. The needs to be met are the highest I know of. Many new schools have been built in the constituency, all of which I welcome regardless of who builds them or the Government in power, but this is the worst case I have seen. I cannot believe what I have seen in the school over the years. I ask the Minister of State to make a special effort in the Department of Finance to make sure the project is put back on track as soon as possible.

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputies for raising this really important matter. I am taking it on behalf of the Department of Education and the Minister for Education. They have asked me to outline the current position on the major building project that is so necessary for Kolbe Special School in Portlaoise. I understand it is a major building project providing a new eight-classroom school for pupils with very special educational needs, plus ancillary accommodation and associated site works adjacent to the current location, which both Deputies have said is deeply unsuitable for children from four to 18 with severe and profound learning disabilities or autism.

I understand the project is included in the Department of Education's construction programme being delivered under the national development plan, NDP, as part of Project Ireland 2040. The Department's planning and building unit is currently assessing its work programme and priorities for 2023. The Department's published NDP allocation for 2023 is €860 million. High construction inflation is a continuing factor for every Department, but the Department of Education has a track record in delivering on its schools building programme and I expect it to utilise its capital budget fully every year. It has received very significant additional funding under the current allocation, and special schools are to be covered by the free hot school meals scheme under the Department of Social Protection.

Obviously, the immediate priority of the Department of Education is to cater for the requirements of September 2023. The Minister for Education has asked me to say she is very conscious of the urgency of providing special schools, including Kolbe Special School, with modern facilities. I understand the Minister is in discussion with the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, Deputy Donohoe, regarding capital funding pressures. This will enable them to support the operation of the school system and the development of school building projects to tender and construction in 2023, and minimise project delays to the greatest extent possible. That includes the major building project for Kolbe Special School, which is due to proceed to tender. I understand that prior to the major project being progressed to tender, enabling works are required to underground ESB cables at the site for the new school. I am told those works are to be carried out in the near future. I have asked for a more specific timeline. If I do not get it before we finish, I will revert to the Deputies during the day when I receive the information from the Department of Education.

Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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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.

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy knows that the one thing I could never do is promise something I could not deliver. I am completely honest about that. What I do know is that the Department of Education has, over the past two years, secured real delivery of projects for children with additional needs. Even in my constituency, there are, I think, 13 new classes that were not in existence prior to 2020. There is a genuinely different approach to delivery for children with special needs. Deputy Stanley is right that I have a long-standing interest in this. In addition to being a member of the Committee of Public Accounts, I was a member of the autism committee, which is continuing its very strong work on behalf of children, particularly those with special needs and very significant learning difficulties and those on the autism spectrum. It is quite impossible to imagine how difficult it is to teach children with so many additional needs who struggle daily in an environment that is not suitable for them, an environment in which one cannot access therapeutic machinery, occupational therapy and all the support tools needed to give children an opportunity to learn daily in the best possible way in a special school.

There is no question about the commitment of the Department to the special school in question, as with others. I understand that, from a financing perspective, the Department has a very significant capital budget and is discussing it with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform.

I know about delivery and commitment over the past couple of years from the Minister of State in the Department of Education, Deputy Madigan. I can see the progress in my area but it is important that the project be delivered in the Deputies' area as quickly as possible for the children there. I understand the concerns of the local community and the efforts they have made. They are meeting this evening. I note the efforts of their representatives in Dáil Éireann and of the ESB. Everybody seems to be completely behind this project. I thank the Deputies for raising it with me today.