It was one of 58 projects put on hold last month.
Plans for a new special school in the midlands have been re-instated.
The new Kolbe Special School building in Portlaoise was one of 58 projects put on hold last month, due to Capital funding pressures.
But the Department of Education have confirmed those issues have been resolved, and says an agreement has been secured to guarantee the rollout of the projects.
Laois Offaly Fine Gael TD Charlie Flanagan says he's hopeful the new building will be operational within 18 months:
The news comes two weeks after a public meeting in Portlaoise, where teachers and staff threatened to march, if the plans weren't re-instated by today.
Earlier this week, photos of the current state of the midlands school have been hand-delivered to the Taoiseach, by one of its students.
Liam Ryan and his mother, Niamh, travelled to Leo Varadkar's constituency office in Dublin, to deliver a pack containing photos of the current Kolbe Special School building in Portlaoise, a timeline of the project, and a report.
Parents and staff within the current school have reported mould, issues with non-running water and a general lack of space for the 43 students.
📩🚨SPECIAL DELIVERY🚨📩 One of our star pupils Liam and his wonderful Mam Niamh took a trip to Dublin where they called...
Posted by Kolbe Special School Portlaoise on Tuesday, April 4, 2023
Statement from the Department of Education:
Minister for Education, Norma Foley TD has confirmed an agreement has been secured to guarantee and support the rollout and continuation of the Department's ambitious school building programme.
This will facilitate the continued rollout of urgently required school building projects in both mainstream and special education settings, including those that were temporarily paused due to capital funding pressures.
The Department of Education will update each of the 58 schools in relation to the formal arrangements and next steps in respect of the delivery of their individual projects.
Minister Foley said: "The Department of Education is committed to an ambitious Capital programme that delivers new and modernised facilities in school communities and Government is absolutely supportive of continuing this very ambitious and important programme of delivery. This will include provision for all of the 58 schools that were temporarily paused to progress to tender and construction stage and Department officials will contact those schools directly".
"These projects will provide new and modernised facilities for our school communities and are an important aspect of the Department's overall delivery under the Government's National Development Plan. I would like to thank my Cabinet colleague Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, Paschal Donohoe who worked tirelessly with me and my Department officials in order to facilitate the delivery of these urgently required school building projects."
Minister Madigan said: "I am very pleased that we will be able to deliver on the planned school building projects. Many of these will support and enable the inclusion of students with special educational needs, in modern facilities."
The Department of Education has a proven track record of delivery, with over 180 projects completed last year within a challenging environment. This year alone, over 300 school building projects are currently under construction, including 40 new school buildings and 260 projects at existing schools. There are also over 1,000 other school building projects in the Department's pipeline at various stages of development. The Department also continues to support schools with the successful integration of over 15,000 Ukrainian students within the school system.
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