Brian Stanley: Urges action on stalled Sapling special school build
Brian Stanley raised urgent concerns about the stalled construction of the Sapling School in County Leish, calling on the minister and officials to resolve funding and restart the project. He said the half-built school has been idle since late 2023, leaving 30 high-dependency pupils in prefabs in the village of Colletion.
Construction work began in March 2023 on a Greenfield site at Fruit Hill provided by Leish County Council. Groundworks and walls were completed, but work stopped in late 2023 and has not resumed as of summer 2025.
The Sapling School moved from Grey Cullen and is now operating from prefabs in Colletion; the principal’s office is being run from an adjacent cloakroom in the local community hall. The half-built building site is reported to be overgrown with bushes and weeds.
As explained in the speech, 4 million was allocated via the Immigrant Investor Programme handled by the Department of Justice, but that scheme is now closed. Costs have escalated since the pre-COVID application and an estimated funding gap of 2.6 to 3 million remains, a sum the small school cannot raise.
He noted that the Department of Education does not provide the project funding and asked the minister and officials to engage to find a way forward. He specifically requested that the minister come back to him with a solution to restart the build and secure the remaining finance.
He acknowledged work already secured for St. Francis School, where two modular classrooms are being provided, and used that to underline the need for similar attention to the Sapling School matter.
Construction timeline and pause
Construction work began in March 2023 on a Greenfield site at Fruit Hill provided by Leish County Council. Groundworks and walls were completed, but work stopped in late 2023 and has not resumed as of summer 2025.
Current accommodation for pupils
The Sapling School moved from Grey Cullen and is now operating from prefabs in Colletion; the principal’s office is being run from an adjacent cloakroom in the local community hall. The half-built building site is reported to be overgrown with bushes and weeds.
Funding shortfall and programme closure
As explained in the speech, 4 million was allocated via the Immigrant Investor Programme handled by the Department of Justice, but that scheme is now closed. Costs have escalated since the pre-COVID application and an estimated funding gap of 2.6 to 3 million remains, a sum the small school cannot raise.
Department roles and request to minister
He noted that the Department of Education does not provide the project funding and asked the minister and officials to engage to find a way forward. He specifically requested that the minister come back to him with a solution to restart the build and secure the remaining finance.
Acknowledgement of related progress
He acknowledged work already secured for St. Francis School, where two modular classrooms are being provided, and used that to underline the need for similar attention to the Sapling School matter.
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Transcript
Minister, in the short time that I have I want to raise the issue of special school places in County Leish. The Sapling School in Grey Cullen had to move out of the building that we were in. They are now located out in the village of Colletion in Prefabs. The construction work started on a new school in March 2023, but after groundworks and walls were built on the site at Greenfield site at Fruit Hill, provided by Leish County Council. Work stopped in late 2023. The school were told that work would resume, but no details were given. It has now passed summer 2025, two years on, and while I am aware that funding for this project is not provided by the Department of Education, this needs to be moved on. The funding for it was provided by the by the Immigrant Investor Programme from the Department of Justice, handled by the Department of Justice, and this must be sorted out. That scheme is now closed, but the Sapling School is left there half-built, and this needs to be, this needs now to be got up and running again. The application was made in the pre-COVID years, so the building costs have escalated massively, they have elevated, and that's the reality. As I understand it, 4 million was allocated by the Department of Justice, and we now have a big problem with funding, but the Department of Justice can't fund it because the scheme is closed. So it can't be done through private donations, because there's a gap of 2.6 to 3 million, and the Department of Education, you know, this has to be raised, this can't be raised by the school, because the school of 30 special high-dependency students, they can't raise in the region of 3 million, that's the facts of it. Currently, as I said, they're out in the collection village and prefabs, the principal's office is in an adjacent cloakroom in the local community hall. There's a site for a new school, that's where the new school has been built, has bushes and weeds growing up around it, and I would just ask you to, for you and your officials, just to come back to me on it. I want to acknowledge the fact that an issue that I raised before St. Francis School, the two modular classrooms, they're being provided, and I just want to acknowledge that, your work on that, because I know I raised it with you here before, and I want to just acknowledge that. But Saplings at the other end of the county needs help, and I'm asking you to come back to me on it. Thank you. Deputy Paul Murphy.