Maria McCormack (Sinn Fein)

I want to talk about special education places once again and existing commitments to schools regarding prefabs that have been in place for years and in respect of which there is still no movement. I am going to talk particularly about County Laois. I have mentioned St. Francis School before. It has been waiting on its modular build since 2021. Forty-five children are on a waiting list there and there is nowhere for them to go. While I welcome the fact that new prefabs and new modular builds have been announced for a considerable number of schools, there are still schools left behind. Another school in County Laois, Saplings school, Killeshin, has been two years in limbo. I visited the building site, which is all you would call it, last week. The authorities have been renting a prefab at the school, which was built in 1949. On 14 March 2023, the school started a build but it has been left at a standstill. I call for a debate with the Minister so we can determine where we are going to make progress on existing school premises to coincide with all the new builds, because many children are being left behind and in unsuitable school buildings such as the prefab in a school built in 1949.