Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Tá an-áthas orm an deis a bheith agam inniu tabhairt faoi réimse fíorthábhachtach an oideachais speisialta. Tá an-áthas orm é sin a dhéanamh i mo ról nua mar Aire Stáit le freagairt as oideachas speisialta agus cuimsiú. I very much welcome the opportunity to address the House this afternoon on the very important issue of special education and inclusion. I was delighted last month to be appointed by our new Taoiseach to the role of Minister of State with responsibility for special education and inclusion.

As a former primary school teacher, I have a huge level of interest in education generally and in how it impacts every day on the lives of children and young people in almost 4,000 schools across the country. As Government Chief Whip, I sit at the Cabinet. In that capacity, I am determined to be a voice for special education and inclusion at the highest level of the Government. I wish to be very clear about our commitment to this area. Enabling children with special educational needs to receive a high-quality education is a priority for the Government. It is also a key priority for the Department of Education and its partners, including the National Council for Special Education, NCSE.

As colleagues will be aware, the Taoiseach has a strong interest in education and disability matters. He has established a new Cabinet committee on children and education and disability, which includes all responsible Departments and Ministers. This development clearly underlines the Government's commitment, and the Taoiseach's personal commitment, to working to improve the lives of children and young people with disabilities and special educational needs. The committee has already met on one occasion and will continue to meet on a regular basis. It will be a key vehicle for considering measures to further improve the lives of our children and young people, particularly those with a disability or special educational need. I look forward to playing a key role in the work of the new committee.

As Dáil Deputies, we are all aware of the contacts made with us by parents and families on behalf of children with special educational needs. Regardless of the issue, we can empathise hugely with a family looking to secure a special education place, access to therapy services or access to respite support. A lot of good work is being done to support children with special educational needs and their families across a wide range of areas. We have increased the number of special education teachers and special needs assistants, SNAs, in our schools. We have overseen a rapid expansion in special class places over the past four years. We have established a number of new special schools. These additional places and supports mean so much to children and their families. However, we must do more. The Government is committed to delivering services and educational opportunities to children and families most in need. I have met with the chief executive and chairperson of the NCSE, which is engaged with delivering and arranging educational provision to children. I will continue to regularly meet and engage with the NCSE to ensure it has the resources it needs to do its important work.

In the short few weeks I have been in my new role, I have also had the opportunity to meet with a number of children and their families, as well as advocacy groups, including the National Parents Council, AsIAm, Inclusion Ireland, Down Syndrome Ireland, Family Carers Ireland, Open Special Schools and Classes, and Neurodiversity Ireland. I want to hear about what works well, what is not working and what we can do to improve provision of services. Of particular note during those meetings was the level of lived experience these groups bring to the discussion. It is important that this lived experience feeds into our policy formation. My Department is committed to ensuring the voice of the student is heard.

The special education consultative forum established by the Government in 2021 is an example of how lived experience is directly incorporated into policy formation. Membership of the forum includes parent and student representatives and advocates from a wide range of groups. Meeting on a regular basis, members are invited to submit agenda items, collaborate and prioritise matters for consideration. The forum covers the special education provision for children of schoolgoing age attending recognised primary, special and post-primary schools. It provides an opportunity for parents and advocates to contribute to the ongoing reform and development of policy and provision across a wide range of areas and to raise concerns in this regard. It is a hugely valuable means of listening to our stakeholders and developing our medium and long-term thinking on how provision of education can be best achieved.

The work being undertaken by my Department to review the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 is another example of how our work is informed by stakeholders. The review process includes extensive stakeholder engagement, including with parents, educators, advocacy groups and experts in special education. We have collected a rich source of data to help inform the next steps. Online surveys launched in November 2022 garnered more than 28,000 responses. Qualitative analysis of hundreds of submissions is under way.

An easy access survey will be also made available shortly. This is designed to accommodate individuals, including students, who may face challenges with traditional survey methods. A variety of focus groups were also held as part of the review, including with children with special educational needs and young adults who had experienced the special educational needs model of education. Later this year, an open policy day will integrate feedback from surveys and focus groups, insights from the academic review and inputs from the National Council for Special Education’s policy advice on special schools and special classes. I want this significant review to be completed by the end of the year, and the feedback coming through the extensive consultation that is underway is sure to focus on the key issues that stakeholders want us to consider as part of any potential review of the legislation.

In recent years, the Government has made significant progress on ensuring that students with special educational needs have the right supports and resources to enable them to achieve their educational goals. It is important to remember that the majority of children with special educational needs are supported to attend mainstream classes with their peers. For children with more complex needs, special class places are provided, and for children with the most complex needs, special school places are provided. Since 2019, more than €9 billion has been spent on special education, with this year alone seeing 26% of the education budget allocated to special educational needs. This investment of €9 billion has allowed seven new special schools and more than 1,300 new special classes to open nationwide in the past five years. It has also allowed for close to another 3,000 special education teachers and over 5,000 special needs assistants to be added to our schools’ resources. This means that there are now more than 40,000 dedicated individuals committed to enabling students with special education needs to attain their educational goals.

Budget 2024 provides for another 400 special classes and 300 additional special school places to be provided for the coming school year. The National Council for Special Education, NCSE, advises my Department that almost 300 new special classes have already been sanctioned, and the remaining classes will be confirmed shortly once final details are worked through at local level. Four further special schools will be opened in the coming school year as well. They are in Enfield in County Meath, Craddockstown in County Kildare, Gorey in County Wexford and Limerick city. A number of existing special schools are also being expanded. My Department continues to engage in forward planning with the NCSE on an ongoing basis and work has already commenced on forward planning for the 2025-26 school year. The Government is committed to continuing to support this accelerated level of delivery of special education places.

It is important to note that we continue to see an increasing need for special education placements, mainly driven by an increase in the prevalence rate of children with autism. My Department has commenced work with other relevant Departments and organisations to try to understand the factors behind this increase.

My time as Minister of State has afforded me the opportunity to meet a host of families and students from many different walks of life, providing me with insights into their educational journeys. The needs of each child are different and it has been helpful for me as Minister of State to hear first hand what supports are needed to ensure that the potential of children can be fully realised through our education system. For example, just yesterday I visited Boyerstown National School in County Meath where I met Willow and Abbie in their rainbow classroom. I spoke with Willow’s mum, Tracy, who explained how Willow had come on in leaps and bounds since starting school. I was also pleased to meet the school principal and the girls’ special teacher, Geraldine, as well as other support staff, who explained how they helped provide inclusive education in a mainstream school. My colleague, Deputy English, has worked closely with the family and school to provide fantastic supports to all children.

One of the biggest challenges I hear about is the difficulty of sourcing the right supports at the right time and in the right place. This is why I am so pleased to today announce details of the additional €13 million of funding that has been provided for the expansion of services within the NCSE. The NCSE plays a pivotal role in planning and co-ordinating school supports for children with special educational needs. The €13 million investment has allowed for a 64% increase in the number of special educational needs organisers, SENOs, who, at a local level, are a pivotal point of contact for parents, guardians and schools to ensure that the educational needs of children are met. As part of the expansion of services, the number of SENOs will increase from 73 to 120. A key part of this change is a move to a more responsive, localised structure in order to offer more concentrated and focused supports. The new structure will be in place for the beginning of the school year next September.

These additional posts for the NCSE are the first step. We must then consider how the NCSE can further work to support parents, particularly in the area of admission to special classes and special schools. This is something I want to consider further with the NCSE, and work is ongoing in that regard.

It would be useful to set out a number of the measures that are underway to enhance the experience of our children and young people in the education system. We want to share the ambition of young people and their families, not just in reaching their full potential in school, but also after they have left the education system to pursue careers or further opportunities in further and higher education. I wish to quickly highlight a number of the measures being progressed.

When I meet parents of children with special educational needs, they are keen to emphasise the importance of having appropriate curricular pathways for their children in our school system, particularly at post-primary level. Building on the junior cycle level 1 and level 2 programmes, the new senior cycle level 1 and level 2 programmes are in development and are particularly targeted at supporting children with additional needs. I wish to see these programmes introduced in our schools as soon as possible, backed by significant training and supports.

Special schools play a critical role in supporting students with the most complex of needs. To support these schools, a package of specific supports has been provided in budget 2024, aimed at increasing provision of post-primary subjects and supporting students to access further education and employment opportunities after school. They include additional funding and the removal of the current teacher threshold for the appointment of administrative deputy principals so that all special schools can benefit from this additional resource. An additional allocation of almost 100 teaching posts targeted at special schools with post-primary-aged students has also been provided.

When I visit schools, I am always struck by the important role that school staff, including SNAs, play in the daily lives of our children and young people. Overall, there are more than 20,000 SNAs supporting students with significant care needs in our education system. In 2022, my Department established a dedicated SNA workforce development unit in order to ensure that sufficient time and attention were given to the examination of the SNA role and to adopt a more strategic approach to policy development. This is aimed at developing an enhanced service that delivers the best outcome for children. Research and analysis have already begun as part of the work on this first SNA workforce development plan. Focus groups on the topic of SNA learning and development have been held with SNAs and a comprehensive national survey of SNAs also issued earlier this year. It is envisaged that the data collected will help to develop a deeper knowledge and understanding of the role of the SNA in the different educational settings and to explore and enhance the role that SNAs play in facilitating inclusion.

One of the areas I am particularly interested in is how we support students in transitioning to available further education and employment opportunities after school. We must do more to harness and support the development of the ability present in every single child in our education system. Working with a number of schools, my Department and the NCSE is piloting two interesting programmes. The first of these transition programmes, which involves mainstream and special schools in Dublin and Galway working together on a pilot basis, aims to provide access to all school leavers requiring specialist supports to an appropriate transition programme. The programme is teacher led and is designed to be adaptable to the individual needs of the students it supports. A co-ordinator has been appointed to work with the schools on developing their own approaches based on their students and contexts.

A second pilot - a transition programme funded by the Dormant Accounts Fund - is a collaboration between the Department and the Walkinstown Association for People with an Intellectual Disability, WALK, which is an experienced NGO working in the area of disability services.

WALK is working with ten schools, mostly special schools, to deliver its existing providing equal employment routes, PEER, ability programme. The key objective is similar to the other programme, to ensure that students are supported to make optimal transitions from school and that engagement continues with participants for up to three years after they leave school. Both programmes will be monitored and reviewed on an ongoing basis and I am very interested to see the learnings from these programmes and how we can provide supports in other schools into the future.

We must also look to see how we support children transitioning right through our education system, from preschool to primary, post-primary and beyond, and I look forward to progressing this work with my officials.

Another new initiative being progressed is the Towards Inclusion pilot programme, which is a collaboration between special schools and mainstream schools. The overarching purpose of the programme is to provide for collaboration between mainstream and special schools in teaching, learning and assessment practices. This programme seeks to break down the barriers between specialist and mainstream provision such that it may prompt conversations at local level around inclusion, inclusive practices and opportunities for collaboration. It may also be viewed as a foundation block in work being undertaken to develop an inclusive education system. I am keen to monitor the progress of this pilot programme and see how we can do more in this space with mainstream and special schools in the years ahead.

Accessing and attending school is particularly challenging for students with acute medical needs. This was brought home to me again just yesterday when, as I previously mentioned, I had the privilege to visit St. Joseph’s National School in Boyerstown, County Meath, to meet Willow, a student who is benefiting from a new support programme my Department has introduced, namely, a national nursing programme pilot for children with complex healthcare needs. This is a nationwide pilot scheme run in partnership with HSE and the NCSE that extends the paediatric home care package from the child's home into the school setting. This allows an agency nurse attend the school with the student for an agreed number of hours per week, and travel to and from school with the student, if necessary. The pilot is to be evaluated and the outcome will inform the provision of nursing support for students with complex healthcare needs into the future.

As I mentioned, the availability of therapy supports is a key issue for families of children with special educational needs. While the primary responsibility for the provision of these supports rests with the HSE, my Department is anxious to support this work and complement what is being delivered on the health side in our schools. One such proposal in this space being progressed by my Department is the use of the 39 therapy posts available under the school inclusion model to develop a national educational therapy support service. This new service would be embedded in the new NCSE regional structure. Under this service schools can access the right educational supports at the right time from advisers, visiting teachers, SENOs and therapists.

Funding of €40 million has been secured to run this year’s summer programme. This programme builds on the progress that has been made in recent years which has seen the participation of children grow from 13,000 in 2019 to more than 50,000 in 2023 and the number of schools participating grow by 12%. The Department’s main priority in 2024 is that children with the most complex special educational needs, especially in special schools, should have access to a school-based summer programme. This year will also see a new special school student teacher placement introduced. Special schools will be able to recruit up to two graduate teachers and final year PME student teachers, bolstering the capacity of schools to deliver the programme. In addition, a new partnership is being formed between a special school in Kerry and Munster Technological University, MTU, this year. MTU’s campus will host a summer programme, where the special school teaching staff will be supported by university students to deliver the programme. In addition, schools have been given the flexibility to engage staff who are not employed in their schools to support their summer programme. Student teachers and students in relevant disciplines such as therapy, social care and nursing, among others such as early childcare workers and carers, will also be able to register their interest in working on this year’s programme. It is initiatives like these that enable schools to provide a programme which last year saw 59 special schools run a programme, compared with just 34 special schools in 2019. I want to see even more schools offer the programme for this summer and my Department will continue to work to make this a reality.

We also need to look at the level of training provided in our teacher training colleges around special education, which is something I intend to explore further with my officials and stakeholders. Coupled with the accelerated delivery of special classes and special school places, I am confident that these measures will deliver a higher quality and more responsive special education provision to meet the needs of our children and young people. I look forward to hearing Members' contributions and I very much welcome the discussion of this matter in the House.

Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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I very much welcome the opportunity for statements on this issue. Given the time I have available to me, I will not be able to touch on everything I wish to address. It is a topic we should be discussing more.

I am somewhat taken aback that the Minister of State managed to go through a seven-page speech but not once mention the report from the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Autism or the projections for the full-time enrolment figures as updated in March. These figures indicate it is likely that by 2030, the rate of children with special educational needs will have increased from 2.6% to 4%, representing an increase of more than 11,000 children. At the moment, the parents of some of these children feel very disappointed and incredibly let down by the Government. As other children receive offers, these parents reach out in sheer desperation as their child has once again been left out and they have to fight for a school place. They are angry and hurt. I have spoken here before about a lady who applied to 20 schools for her twin boys. They have secured a school, but it takes an hour to travel there from their home. That is not inclusion. It cannot be inclusion when those children are being taken out of their community.

The oversubscription of schools, staffing and funding shortages, lack of capacity and delays in school buildings are not new phenomenon but all parents who have a child with special educational needs repeatedly ask themselves about the reasons behind some of the decisions the Government makes. For example, the schoolbook and resources grant was reduced from €96 to €80, with the circular stating that schools can carry forward any excess from last year. Perhaps the Minister of State has figures to hand on the number of schools, particularly special schools, that will be carrying forward excess grants from last year, and the value of those grants. When it comes to children with SEN, there has been a propensity from the Government to react to crises instead of adequately planning for the future through school placements, assessments, staff resourcing and funding. This has to change. Advance planning must be undertaken to guarantee sufficient appropriate school places for children with SEN in their communities.

Inclusion Ireland conducted a survey which found that 45% of children are not having their needs met in school. They contend with a lack of appropriate supports, reduced timetables, emotionally based school avoidance or not attending school at all. All information published by the Department should be produced in a way that is understood by those who are most reliant on it, namely, children and their families. There is an obligation on the State to do so under the UNCRPD and its public sector duty, unlike what happened with the re-calculation of special education teacher, SET, hours.

Although Ireland fares well in the education league tables when benchmarked internationally, there is no specific data on the experience of children with disabilities, their educational attainments or their experiences of school. There is a valid call for the Government to gather disaggregated data on the experience of disabled children in schools, as is done in other jurisdictions. Chime, for example, have been lobbying on this issue for children with hearing loss. Without doubt, this is a children's rights issue. According to another of Inclusion Ireland's recent surveys, 35% of disabled children experience seclusion and 27% of disabled children suffer restraint at school. The results of a review are still ongoing.

It is important that children receive the appropriate education, but it is also important that they leave school feeling good about themselves, confident that they are ready to continue towards their own goals and achieving their full potential. An inclusive education is essential to achieving that. Sinn Féin's Education (Inclusion of Persons) Bill would amend and extend the Education Act to provide for the inclusion of information from special educational needs organisers in school planning and provide for inclusion policies in school. I welcome the redistribution and the additional hiring of SENOs but that is not a new announcement.

Departmental officials briefed the committee when we queried the SET allocations. This needs to be changed. At the moment, my constituency of Longford-Westmeath is in a team with Donegal. It is simply too large and too unfair on SENOs to be adequate.

Sinn Féin's Education (Inclusion of Persons) Bill would provide for enhanced planning and co-ordination in regard to school planning areas, require school management boards to consider how to support children with SEN and require board members to undertake training in disability rights. Under current legislation, the NCSE has no authority to designate a place for a child with SEN or require sufficient classes be established to support these children, others with complex needs or those on the autistic spectrum. We will be bringing forward legislation to legislate for a rights-based Education (Overcoming the Barriers) Bill that will provide the NCSE with the authority to ensure that children's needs are met. The Bill would make it a requirement for the Department inspectorate to report on the implementation of individual education plans and provide for a robust appeals mechanism to allow parents and schools to appeal an allocation under the new school resource allocation model.

We are committed to making sure that our education system is inclusive and accessible for all children and all types of learners. We recognise the importance of resource teachers, SET co-ordinators, SNAs and whole-school communities in ensuring that every student has the opportunity to thrive and reach their full potential in a supportive, inclusive and equitable learning environment. In-school speech and language therapy for social and emotional development and academic success, early intervention and the tailoring of supports to students’ needs are a must.

The significant role of our educational psychologists in contributing to a child's academic success and well-being is based on providing each child with the necessary supports and resources. We believe additional funding must be made available to recruit more educational psychologists, along with the additional administrative supports to provide them with the support they need for their work. Another critical part is smaller class sizes. These are essential not only for children with special educational needs but for all children in the classroom to ensure they reach that potential. Critically, with regard to those children with SEN, it benefits both students and teachers.

A couple of months ago, the summer programme for schools 2024 was announced. To my mind, it very much failed to adopt the rights-based approach called for by the cross-party autism committee. Parents of children who cannot avail of a school-based programme were left waiting until a couple of weeks ago to find out the details of the home-based programme. That is wrong and there is no need for it. It causes anxiety for the parents and it can be avoided by announcing the details of both schemes at the same time. We know the importance of this programme for the children, their families and the wider school community in helping to prevent regression in academic and social skills during the summer break, which was highlighted by the cross-party committee. Concerns have been raised with me regarding the availability of teachers and other necessary staff to run these programmes. The programmes need to be adequately funded at consistent levels with multi-annual funding.

We in Sinn Féin want to see a fully inclusive education system that meets the needs of all children. No child should be excluded or failed with regard to their right to an education. Every child should have a clear pathway to reach their potential through primary, post-primary and on into their future.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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There are three Sinn Féin speakers left.

Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Cheann Comhairle. Sinn Féin is determined to work towards a future where all children get to go to school with their siblings and peers. At the moment, this is simply not happening. I spoke with members of the Clondalkin autism support group this morning. They outlined many of the challenges that children with special educational needs face. They informed me of a six-year-old child who will have no school place again this September. One parent has had 35 refusals from 35 different schools in respect of their child. Can the Minister of State imagine the mental anguish that these parents are facing?

There are simply not enough special education places in Dublin Mid-West. There is a lack of places at primary school level that reaches crisis point when a child tries to enter secondary school education. Parents are being failed right across the board when it comes to getting services for their children. The Clondalkin autism support group reports that the community disability network team in its area is only operating at 32% of capacity due to staffing levels. There is no social worker available. Parents report that their children are being passed back and forth between community disability network teams and primary care services without getting the treatment that they deserve.

They report that their children are being failed by CAMHS because children with a dual diagnosis of autism and mental health issues are falling through the cracks. The Families for Reform of CAMHS, which has done Trojan work in this area, reported that 31% of its members have a child who requires work from the CAMHS intellectual disability services but 81% of these do not have access to this.

When it comes to aftercare, there is nothing in Dublin Mid-West. We had one service covering the whole of west Dublin. Twigs was the first assisted after-school service in Ireland. Twigs set a precedent with regard to how children with an ASD diagnosis are cared for, and provide an inclusive space for over 600 children. Some 98% of these 600 children reintegrated into social settings easier after being in Twigs but due to lack of Government supports, Twigs had to close its doors last summer.

Parents are facing massive barriers when it comes to aftercare for children with special educational needs. I want to talk about a ten-year-old boy in my area who is currently being tutored at home. He was excluded from a special school for children with emotional behaviour issues. At the time, he had undiagnosed autism and this school did not meet his neurodiverse needs. He has been tutored at home since November 2023, and his parents feel that he is missing out on socialisation with his peers. His parents have tried to find a school with an ASD class but to no avail. They also report that there is no SENO available in Clondalkin. I am going to send the Minister of State details of this child. I hope she can add her support and that this child will get a special educational needs place.

Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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There is a serious lack of school places in Dublin West. At a recent meeting, the NCSE admitted that there are 13 children it knows of who do not have places for September. It knows and admitted that there will be more. We have children transferring to post-primary who have no school places, and even in one school, one child transferring from junior school has been told there is no place in the senior school on the same campus. This is not a shock because we were warned several years ago, when the first public meeting regarding school places was held in the Carlton Hotel in Tyrrelstown that resulted in the development of that new school, that they have only one place for 2024 and two projected for 2025. The Minister of State said, "It is important to note that we continue to see an increasing need for special educational placements". Yet, the Department is only looking at this now. I find that utterly incredible.

I want to raise the issue of St. Philip's national school in Dublin West, which is losing a teacher even though its numbers are up this year and there is a waiting list. It is penalised because they opened up an ASD class and this reduced their numbers for that year. As the Minister of State knows, the calculation for teacher allocation is not based on the actual figures for the coming year. The simple question the school is asking relates to why its appeal was refused when it is oversubscribed for 2024-25. I would like to pass that one on to the Minister of State, if she could please have a look at it.

I was contacted by a parent yesterday whose autistic child is out of school but has very successfully completed level 3 in iScoil. There is no level 4 in place to allow that student to continue their education. However, I am aware that the Department is looking into a level 4 iScoil programme. Could the Minister of State please provide clarity on this? I might pass this one on to her, and if she could get back to me I would really appreciate it.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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It really is inexcusable that in 2024 children in this State cannot easily access special class places when they need to. It is a disgrace that, year on year, parents are left worried sick, stressed and battling - as they do for everything when they have a child who has additional needs - to find a place to send them to school. This really has to end.

Every child that needs a class place should have one in the school they wish to attend. Every school should easily have the means and resources to open and have special classes where the demand and need is there, and not to have this circus every year of parents ringing around schools asking for a place for their son or daughter. We know in many cases that choice is being taken away from parents, and they end up having to travel long distances with their children. I spoke to a mother today who will more than likely have to accept a class place that will mean her son and daughter will be in different schools. It is not fair, it is not right and it is shameful that families are being put in this situation.

I recently wrote to the Minister of State about a specific issue in Monksland in south Roscommon and the fact that in the south Roscommon-Ballinasloe area there are 18 children without class places for September. Parents really are going out of their minds. I often think what it must be like to have to ring around schools in your area - some further away than others - pleading for a place for your child so they can go to school. It is the Minister of State's responsibility to ensure that schools have the resources to open special classes. If they do not, they need to be given those resources. If demand exceeds the places that are there, we need to see the resources and places increased. The Department needs to be proactive. It needs to act at pace, be able to plan and be flexible. When a special class place is needed, it needs to be delivered. We also have to ensure that school principals are not being put in a position where they are worried about receiving a Portakabin as a special class, and they fear they will be left with it instead of getting the school extension that the school needs in order for it to grow. We have to provide that certainty to the school community as well.

This is an issue that we really have to get right. Children who need a special class place should be looking forward to starting school. It should be an exciting time for them and their parents. It is a milestone for anyone's son or daughter to start school. Instead, for a lot of parents, it and the build-up is an absolute nightmare. We need to do more. We need to resource the schools, and ensure that every child who needs a special class place gets a special class place.

Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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I will be sharing with my colleague Deputy Ó Ríordáin. Despite some progress in recent years, there are still significant gaps and disparities that persist in our special education system. Too many students and children are being hindered from full inclusion and participation in our schools. Too many children are being left behind and deprived of the support and resources they need to thrive both academically and socially. While the time left for this Government is growing short, this is an issue I believe this House as a whole can get behind. With the Taoiseach stating that he wants a further emphasis on special education, and with the portfolio itself being reassigned, we need to see some real changes that will have a tangible impact on the people who need them right now.

These changes need to start, however, with a re-examination of how special education teaching hours are allocated for schools. We have a situation where some schools will be losing resources with regard to the allocation of special education teachers, according to a departmental circular earlier this year.

From the parliamentary questions I have submitted, it is clear that for those schools whose allocations have been decreased, 30% have had their hours reduced by more than five hours per week, with 70% of schools looking at decreased hours of between one and five hours.

In my own constituency, Holywell Educate Together National School, which is an unbelievable school for the provision of special education and goes over and above, faces a decrease in hours of up to 12.5%, which could impact on a number of its supports and programmes, including its ability to offer much-needed one-to-one support for some children. Over recent months I have been visiting schools in my constituency and those there have told me just how vital it is to not only maintain, but also to build on, the number of SET hours that are allocated to schools. This is not only vital for the children who need them but for the other children in their classes and, more broadly, for parents who rightly believe that the allocation of these hours is vital to the development of their children and to ensure the children feel properly included in the school.

It was really concerning for those parents who heard the Minister for Education defend this new model of allocation of hours earlier this year. She stated that 67% of schools will see no change or will see an improvement in their allocation of special education teaching hours, but what about the other 33%? A third of schools will see a decrease. A new focus on special education should not mean a cut in the allocation of hours for one third of the schools in this country. Quite frankly, that decision is madness, and telling schools and parents to engage in a review process is simply not the way the Government or the Minister of State should be handling this matter. Parents of children are concerned now. They are concerned about what the next school year will look like. Remember, these are parents who have fought from before the time their children entered school and who continue to fight while their children are in the school system.

This begs the question what type of engagement went on between the Department of Education and disability organisations, if any. Down Syndrome Ireland, Inclusion Ireland and AsIAm are just some examples of the organisations the Department should have consulted, but we know this did not happen. Indeed, when before the committee, these very organisations stated that the lack of consultation was a breach of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The reality is that the primary challenge facing special education in Ireland is the lack of adequate funding and resources. The underinvestment in special education has resulted in overcrowded classrooms, insufficient support staff, limited access to specialised services and interventions and, of course, children who are unable to get into schools. As a result, many students with additional needs are unable to receive the individualised attention and support they require and is their right to achieve their full potential. According to the Taoiseach there will be a further emphasis on special education, so we now need to see policies and actions that reflect the reality as it exists now. We need to see a reversal of a new model of SET hours and, instead, see an increased allocation across the board for schools for special education. We also need to make sure there is joined-up thinking regarding the educational supports that are provided to children with autism. For example, in my own constituency in Malahide, there are no autism classes at primary school level, but in the post-primary school, there are two. It is these types of inconsistencies that simply do not make sense. The lack of planning here is concerning and it is not a new phenomenon. A total of 8,893 children are overdue an assessment of needs and 6,963 have been waiting for more than three months. More than 17,000 are waiting for contact with the children's disability network team, with a waiting list for treatment of more than 110,000. These are staggering figures and they have an impact on our education system. We cannot continue to see the consistent mishandling by the Government and the State in how they provide for children with additional needs. We cannot continue to see the inconsistencies that exist across villages, towns and cities. We need to see every school ensuring they offer autism classes and reading classes for children with dyslexia. There is not a canvass or a door-knocking session that goes by where these issues do not come up. They are brought up by parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts.

Last year, I stood outside Leinster House with a group of families of young people with intellectual disabilities who were protesting the lack of day services. These individuals were school leavers from the north Dublin area and had been referred to St. Michael's House through the HSE. They had all attended the organisation's school for children with additional needs and had expected to use the adult day services. However, due to a combination of staffing shortages and the resources that were provided to the organisation, they were unable to get places. This ultimately meant these young adults were essentially expected to stay at home with no support from the State. The continuation of their education, life and progress, be it through further education or work, has been hindered by the lack of Government planning and investment.

We also want to see the Government finally make some progress on the implementation of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs, EPSEN, Act, which sought to put in place much-needed supports to facilitate people with additional educational needs to fully participate in the Irish education system. It was intended to be a central pillar of the national disability strategy. It was laudable in placing the identification and provision of the needs of children with additional educational needs on a statutory footing. However, despite being passed in 2004, crucial elements of the Act have yet to be commenced, namely, the development of an individual education plan based on an assessment to identify supports as well as guiding the delivery of educational support on an individual basis. The independent appeals process, which was legislated for in 2004, has also been left aside for 20 years. This needs to change.

We have come some distance in the past 20 to 30 years in the way society values and treats people who require special education needs, but we have to be honest. Despite this, people still face ableist and discriminatory obstacles in accessing special needs education. The data is there to support this. These people are twice as likely to be made homeless and are more likely to be unemployed or underemployed. Ireland has the highest level in European Union of unemployment among people with additional needs. Additionally, we must address the systemic barriers and structural inequalities that perpetuate these disparities in special education. This includes addressing issues such as transportation barriers and inadequate facilities and providing inbuilt access to assistive technology and accommodations. We must also prioritise early intervention and early childhood education for children with additional needs because research has shown that early intervention can significantly improve outcomes and reduce the need for more intensive support services. If this Government is serious about improving provisions for special education, that needs to start now. We have the ability to build a more inclusive and equitable education system for everyone if the political will is there to do it.

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour)
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The recently published NCSE policy document, which is called An Inclusive Education for an Inclusive Society, details a level of research that was done to try to move the country towards a more inclusive education system in the future, where all children with mild general learning disabilities, MGLD, and other disabilities will be catered for in their own local school and only children with the most complex needs will attend special schools. This is a laudable notion. The document cites countries in which this has worked, such as Canada, Portugal and the UK. For this to be a success, a framework will need to be put in place through which all mainstream schools are given the resources to be able to cater for these students with success and dignity. This possibly needs a 20-year plan,and in Portugal the plan is for 30 years, but the Department seems to have other ideas.

I refer in particular to a school in Crumlin, Scoil Eoin, which recently had a meeting with the Department. At this meeting, the Department informed the school that it plans to implement this within four years. It will open 2,000 special classes in post-primary schools and all the mild children will be accommodated there. Scoil Eoin will therefore be forced to change its designation and will only cater to the most complex cases. The fear is that the school will open these classes with no resources and the MGLD children will drop out. This is will not be inclusion on any level. There is also no framework in place for this to happen and no plan to help it succeed. The MGLD special schools’ principals’ group is of the same view, and thinks it is vital that mainstream primary and post-primary schools, as well as other stakeholders, are made aware of this plan and that the value of schools, such as their own, are known and recognised. They feel extremely isolated at present. They feel the Department is dealing with them in an underhand and forceful way. Whatever plan the NCSE has, it must do it in collaboration with the existing schools and put a framework in place to make it a success. Doing it in such a ham-fisted and forceful manner will not bring anybody on board.

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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The portfolio of special education is so important. It is a role that directly impacts on the lives of countless individuals with diverse needs and, as such, it demands full-time dedication to ensure effective policy development, implementation and support for those who rely on the special education services.

There are enormous issues with special education and the Minister of State will need all of us working together to make these changes. Families come into my clinic in Carlow and tell me their children are not being supported appropriately in the schools. They are not getting the same opportunities to access the curriculum as their peers. I know of families who are going into debt to get private assessments so they can get their children into special classes. I know of children going for years without assessments or vital therapies.

Children are waiting for months and years to get support and sometimes that support comes too late for them. As the Minister of State knows, the greatest cure is early intervention. It is vital that the Department provide transparency on special education by disclosing the budget it sought through the Estimates process for the allocation model. It needs to publish accessible information about the changes to the allocation model which are clear and consistent for families. It is vital that we show confidence and comply with basic good governance and good administration by putting in place and publishing a budget for the exceptional review process and guaranteeing the independence of the process.

Local schools have contacted me as they prepare their school summer numeracy and literacy programmes for pupils and for the ASD special classes. I know the Minister of State is aware of this but it is very worrying. Unfortunately, the funding has been cut considerably. While it was €60 per child per week in 2022, in 2023 it was €45 per child per week and now in 2024 it has gone down to €30 per child per week - it has halved. Very many schools have contacted me about this and I just cannot explain it to them. That is so important. This will have a detrimental effect on the quality of the programme for the children. Many children will not receive this positive experience this year. How can we deny children with additional needs an experience that they desperately deserve? Why are we cutting this? I really want an answer on this. For the last week I have been inundated with queries about this. I need to be able to go back and say how we can sort this out. I could really do with answers for this.

I welcome the publication of the National Council for Special Education policy advice paper which promotes an inclusive education for all in an inclusive society. Others have also spoken about that. We have seen a significant growth in the number of special classes being opened in schools, as I have seen in my own area of Carlow-Kilkenny. I also welcome that. I know there is the good with the bad. Do we have a plan for the long-term development of new school campuses which would cater for all students to allow them to complete their primary and post-primary education? The one thing I want to see is children with special education needs being able to enter the same school gate as their siblings and friends. That is something that is talked about a lot and we really need to have it.

I want to see teachers getting the professional learning programmes they are asking for and the supports they need. As highlighted in the report I want to see psychological and therapeutic supports in mainstream schools to help them support students with special educational needs. The services in Carlow are just not there. We have massive waiting lists for CAMHS. We do not have dual diagnosis. We need to bring all these recommendations in as quickly as possible.

I wish to ask about two other issues. How many special language classes are there in primary schools? As the Minister of State knows, the special language classes work with the HSE and the Department of Education. That has been brought to my attention in the last few weeks. In Carlow-Kilkenny it is an excellent two-year course and it should be rolled out across the country. What are the plans for that?

How many schools have support for verbal dyspraxia? My understanding is that it is not many. What is this situation on that? How many schools have the school programme for dyslexia? I believe all schools should have it. I am looking for an update on that. Are children with Down's syndrome able to take part in these classes? I ask the Minister of State to come back to me with answers on these.

In 2013 we had the categorisation of mild learning difficulties or general learning difficulties. What is the update on that? I do not know if that is in schools anymore. It was really good and was really welcome. There are major issues here. I work with families every day. They come into my clinics. When their child is being looked after, families are happier and they feel that we are getting there on time. As I said, it is all about early intervention. However, some children are not getting the intervention they need. We have had a lot of money allocated in budgets. While I welcome the good work that has been done, what is the Department's future plan? Carlow-Kilkenny is my area and I am looking for the statistics and the figures for that. Many programmes in schools need to be addressed. While much good work has been done, I come across these issues in my clinic every day and I do not have the answers for them. I ask the Minister of State to come back to me with the reasons for the cutbacks on the summer schools programme. I would like to get back to the schools on that.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome that we are having a debate on special education in the House. I congratulate the Minister of State on her appointment. As she may be aware, I have been raising the issue of the deficiencies within special education provision for children in my constituency and particularly in County Monaghan for some time. I have a list here of all special schools across the State. A stark statistic is that only two counties in this State do not have a special school and County Monaghan is one of them. When we consider that Dublin rightly has 47, there is a clear anomaly. If it were an isolated position some logical reason could be given, but County Monaghan is also, for example, the only county that does not have a respite service. Across a range of disability services, families of children with disabilities do not just have to contend with the myriad issues that have been raised here relating to the ongoing struggles and battles they are expected to go through in order to secure services for their children, they also have to deal with what I consider to be an inbuilt discriminatory practice against particular regions and particular counties, and above all County Monaghan.

I have had numerous engagements with the Minister of State's predecessor in respect of this. I have contacted the NCSE more times than I care to remember. Time and time again the response I get is, "In relation to the provision of a special school in County Monaghan, I want to reassure the Deputy that both my Department and the NCSE will continue to monitor and review the need for further new special schools or the expansion of existing special schools in the area." We need to get beyond that. The problem is that some of the Minister of State's Government colleagues are whispering that Monaghan is going to get a special school. We hear of anecdotal reports coming from the NCSE that this is being actively considered. First, we need people to be upfront and tell children and their families that there will be a special school in County Monaghan with details of the location and the current status of that. Second, we need a specific timeframe. It is no good - in fact I would consider it cruel - for local TDs to tell families that there will be a special school without indicating whether it is likely or even possible that their child might have gone through the entire education system before it is actually delivered. Third, we need to be very clear as to who will have access to that school.

One of the suggestions emanating from the aforementioned rumours is that it would be very restrictive regarding the conditions or the particular disabilities of children who would be permitted to go there. There is a very good special school, the Holy Family School in Cootehill in County Cavan. The problem is that it is oversubscribed. I deal with dozens of families in County Monaghan who cannot get access to it. In some instances, their children are essentially denied education because they cannot deal with mainstream schooling even in special classrooms and that needs to change. I am asking the Minister of State for a commitment to give responses to those three issues: that there will be a school; the timeframe for its delivery and that it will be expedited as quickly as possible; and that it will be an inclusive school which will not be restrictive in terms of the children able to avail of it.

As I say, there are children being denied education.

There are children in my county who spend longer on the school bus every morning than I do in my car getting from Carrickmacross to Monaghan. They are traipsing across virtually the entire length of County Monaghan into County Cavan. That is a cruel practice. This is the real problem I have with the response I get from the Minister of State and her Department when they reassure me they are continuing to monitor the situation. Before the new Holy Family School in Cootehill was even completed, parents, service providers and educators were telling the NCSE and the Department that there would be a need for an additional school in County Monaghan but no planning was put in place. It is an all-too-familiar story when it comes to the provision of special education. It is left to the last minute and until there is pent-up demand. That needs to change. I hope the Minister of State will be able to address the three specific questions I have put to her.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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These are important statements on special education. In advance of this debate, I took the opportunity to ask schools and educational leaders in my community and other parts of Dublin about the circumstances of special education in their schools. While I will not refer to any school by name, I will speak to some of the issues they raised with me during those telephone conversations in the past few days.

One school pointed out to me with great frustration that earlier this year, following the furore regarding the special education allocation, the National Council for Special Education promised a circular would be sent out to address the countless concerns of parents, special needs assistants and special education teachers. The NCSE said the circular would be presented in a timely manner. However, there is absolutely no sign of that circular despite the end of the academic year quickly approaching, and this has added to the frustrations of school leaders. They highlighted that the front-loading model of SNA allocation is simply not fit for purpose. We know this; it has been raised in the House many times. That view has been accepted by the NCSE, which promised to change the model. In the absence of the circular, however, the provision of SNAs in September will remain wholly inadequate and the consequences of that will be felt by students who rely on that assistance.

Many schools needed more SNAs this year but did not receive a fair allocation. The countless schools that will need more SNAs next year will need to partake in a complex and lengthy process to apply for an exceptional needs review, the results of which will only be revealed in September, when it is simply too late. We understand the strains that are placed on school leaders ever single year. This year, like last year, the process will again be overly burdensome and overly complicated and result in school leaders having to close their door to do paperwork when they should be out providing for the needs of the students for whom they care. This process takes over a month. School principals are already hamstrung by the crippling level of understaffing and are struggling to tackle issues that are laborious in their undertaking. All of this means that students, particularly those making the jump from primary to secondary level, arrive in a new school setting which cannot provide the resources to support them in the pursuit of the education they deserve. It means that students arriving into secondary school with a complex need of any sort or a need for an SNA allocation do not get it upon arrival. Right from the start, their school journey begins with an absence. Everything that follows stems from that one failure at departmental level.

The allocation model does not reflect an increase in numbers in communities. It is simply broken. One of the last hopes to rectify that calamity was for the aforementioned circular to arrive in a timely manner, but it simply has not arrived. Special classes have been hit particularly hard by this lack of resourcing, which is next to being ignored by the NCSE. That sentiment came from a number of different school leaders to whom I spoke in recent days. They feel ignored. Calls are made and emails are sent but they are not being responded to. I think all Members have received emails from schools telling us how their new special class teacher has received no training after being told the course is full and there is nothing the NCSE can do about it. This leads to underqualified teaching, but certainly not the teachers, letting down our vulnerable students. Students are not getting the education they have been promised and which they simply deserve. I recently had a conversation with a young teacher who told me about the struggle she had in providing care to students without having been trained to do so. She spoke about the impact this has on the students, but also on her professionally. To go further, I would argue that a greater focus on special education during teacher training and study must be incorporated into university programmes. The current level of special education training which teachers receive is far below what many students in special classes require or what the teachers themselves are demanding. This must be rectified with urgency, though "urgency" is not a word I associate in any way with the Department.

A branch within the NCSE that has a particular focus on behaviour for learning has excluded a group of DEIS schools and this is causing significant issues. The allocation of a teacher for behaviour management will result in several students not making it through school. Many of them will leave when they are not provided with the support they require, while others will be asked to go elsewhere, but all will be failed. The NCSE is experiencing major changes that are not being managed properly. It is understaffed and is not in a position to support the young people who need it. It needs a major overhaul. This must be a priority for the Department because every day the NCSE stays broken, we are failing our most vulnerable students. A school has even initiated High Court proceedings after the NCSE refused to allocate additional SNAs the school direly needed. How did it get to a point where schools are initiating High Court proceedings to simply get SNAs? The current state of the NCSE is a stain on our education system.

At primary level, requiring an exceptional review every year for new junior infants who require support is simply unfathomable. This is a routine circumstance; not an exceptional one. The process is excruciating and many of the students, despite meeting the clear and obvious threshold of need required for an SNA, are unsuccessful in the review and have to wait until November to hear the outcome. The old allocation model was far from perfect but at least it was an actual model rather than a process that relies on an unsuitable measure. Back then, at least you got a hearing from a special educational needs organiser who actually looked you in the eye and considered your circumstances. Now it is simply a faceless rejection. There is no effort being put into creating an allocation model that will satisfy the needs of those who are currently being left behind. An exceptional review has a role, but any such role must be within an allocation model. On its own, it is completely insufficient. Along with this, there is an implicit but active threat of allocations being reduced, which discourages those who need to apply from making an application if they have any sort of self-doubt. This is completely unjustified. It is as if it is being done by design. Who would go through such an arduous process if they did not need the support?

The issue of the reworked special education teacher allocation has been lamented endlessly by those to whom I spoke in recent days and months, but it is important we do not lose sight of how the changes it will bring in could have devastating consequences for the children who need it most. Autism charity AsIAm, Down Syndrome Ireland and Inclusion Ireland wrote to the Department of Education asking for the new SET allocation model to be paused until those most affected are meaningfully consulted. Today, countless families and advocacy groups still feel as though their needs are being blatantly ignored. Sufficient clarity that this new model will be inclusive and equitable for students with the greatest level of need has not been provided, despite it being raised on numerous occasions in this House and, I suspect, through thousands of emails. The removal of complex needs has jarred with many and the suggestion from the Department that this is due to an increase in special classes in schools is nothing but a weak excuse. Special education settings are suffering from teacher shortages and the lack of places for students is as apparent as it is in every other educational setting in this State, if not more so.

Beyond that, many parents wish for their children to attend mainstream schools in an inclusive and accessible setting but the new model makes this increasingly difficult. The three advocacy groups to which I referred launched a consultative survey back in February to ascertain the views of relevant communities on the new SET model. In early March they found that 96% of parents feared the impact of the proposed changes to the SET allocation. Have those findings been taking seriously by the Department of Education? Has its consultation shaped conversations around future policy? The allocation model must be paused until an adequate system is established. Under the current model, 10% of schools will see their hours reduced by 25 hours per week and 23% will see the existing allocation reduced by up to five hours per week. Families of children with complex needs do not have the time or resources to wait until this system inevitably fails them.

Another issue that was raised consistently in the calls we made to schools - primarily DEIS schools - was the level of emotional need that is not currently being addressed in schools. It is high time, even long past time, particularly coming out of Covid, which accelerated many of these issues, to have proper emotional support in every single school. That could be provided by a therapist who is simply a member of the faculty.

I understand the difficulty in just staffing our schools with teachers at the moment, but the level of emotional need in schools that is not being met is a scandal waiting to happen. We need to move to a point where a therapist is just a member of the faculty within a school; a person in the staff room who is on hand to cater for children's emotional needs. In secondary schools, which I previously worked in, the career guidance teacher often had to step in and provide emotional support. It was all the way up to fourth or fifth year before you ever got to have a conversation with a student about what they would like to do after school, when so much was based on emotional support. In the next Dáil term, whoever gets to allocate budgets for education should be looking at putting a therapist in every school as a matter of practice.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I call Deputy O'Reilly. The Deputy is sharing time with Deputy Ó Laoghaire.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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Who I am hoping is on his way. I will hold the time anyway until my colleague gets here; half of it is mine. I listened with some interest - I know she is not here now - to the Minister of State's backbench colleague absolutely decrying the cut her own Government made to summer provision. The irony of that is not lost on me, nor will it be lost on the parents of kids with special needs in my constituency. The woman voted for the budget and then comes in here and decries it. I would say the Minister of State is probably getting it in the neck at her parliamentary party meetings and everything else. Possibly, there are among her party's ranks some Members who are slightly more available, shall I say, than the ones in my constituency, who tend to hide from their constituents, probably for good reason. When I was preparing a few remarks for this debate, I had a look back through my diary for the past six or seven weeks at the details of the people who contacted me. I will provide a flavour of what the parents in my constituency are saying. In Skerries, the parents of a lovely daughter have just been told there is no place for her in the ASD unit in her local school. They say, "It feels utterly depressing to us as parents that this is the 12th rejection letter we have received. We feel like if our daughter cannot get a place in the school she attends, in the town where she lives, then what hope do other kids have? The system is broken". Parents living in Lusk, whose son has autism and ADHD, have done everything right. "We applied on time", they said, "with all necessary reports and application forms to the following schools: Lusk Community College, St. Joseph's Secondary School in Rush, Ardgillan Community College and Donabate Community College. Due to the numbers applying, he has been waitlisted for all four schools for their ASD unit places and does not have a suitable place. In one school alone, there were ten applications for one place". A father contacted me recently. His son will be five in June. He said, "While most parents with children the age of our son are looking forward to their child starting junior infants in September, myself and my wife are in absolute limbo and totally worn out from the amount of rejections we have had applying for an ASD class in a primary school in Fingal. Fifteen rejection letters and we are not holding our breath". Another two can be added to that. They have now had 17 rejection letters. I wanted to give the Minister of State a chance to hear directly from the parents in my constituency because they email her and they are sick of the stock responses they get. I wanted her to hear, in their words, what her policy and the Government are doing to their children.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I wish to flag two issues. One is a general issue. Scoil Eoin in Ballincollig has been trying to secure special classes for children with autism since 2013. That is over ten years ago. The principal, staff and board of management have done all they can for the Department of Education to secure funding to provide these classes but they have been blocked at every opportunity. Ballincollig is a town of about 20,000 people. The lack of ASD classes in Ballincollig means that children are being forced to travel all over the city and county just to get a decent education. The school community wants to know that the Minister for Education will take the issue seriously and confirm a date when she will meet the school and, crucially, if the required funding will be delivered. It is extraordinary, at a time when some schools are dragging their feet, that a school campaigning so hard to have special classes is being held back. That needs to be rectified.

To give context, I am aware of a child in the Ballincollig area, Senan, who has ASD and a mild intellectual disability. He was diagnosed at age four. They have gone through an absolute siege of issues over the years. The diagnosis was received in 2019 and paperwork was sent to SENO. They did not hear back from that SENO about the report. They struggled to find a place and ended up being offered a place 45 miles away in Macroom but were grateful to receive an offer. That means this child's journey starts at 7.30 a.m. and he does not get home until 3.30 p.m. It is a great school but the challenge now is what happens next. That is the challenge for many parents. Their thoughts are turning to him turning 12 in a year or two and going to secondary school. As there are no ASD units in Ballincollig, the school he is in has links to secondary schools in County Kerry, which would be a 90-minute journey each way for him. The issues due to the lack of places for special classes and special schools remain enormous. There are so many rejection letters being received by people, so many on waiting lists and such an uncertain future. It should not be like that for so many families. Those children, most of all, need an orderly transition and a plan as to how they are going to progress. They are the children least likely to have that certainty.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I call Deputy Boyd Barrett. He will be followed by Deputy Bríd Smith.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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It is the other way around. I am going to go first. Ladies first and all that jazz.

I welcome the parents in the Gallery. We have been working with people around our constituencies on this issue. I welcome that the debate is happening. Like others, I want to be a conduit for their voices. I wish they could stand here instead of sitting up there and speak directly to the Government and the Minister of State about this. I wish to speak for Greg. He is up there and he wrote to me about his son Sam, who has autism, is non-verbal and has an intellectual disability. For the third time in his short life, they are having issues trying to find a school place for him, "Thirteen schools said no. Both myself and my wife work. The stress on us is unbelievable since last September". Sam, his son, had thrived in an autism class integrated into mainstream classes but with no routine, social interaction or learning, it is unacceptable in today's world that his constitutional rights to an education are not being upheld. Sam not having a school in September puts a huge financial burden on the family. The mortgage has to be paid for, as do Sam's speech and language therapy, swimming lessons, bike lessons and social club. They need answers and they need a place. They need assurance from the Government today that something will be done. I will pass on Greg and Sam's details to the Minister of State afterwards.

Nicola, who is also up there in the Gallery, is the mother of three children - two boys and one girl. Both of her sons are autistic. Sean, who turns 13 next week, is due to start secondary school. This seems to be a common problem - ten different schools have said they have no place. Sean made great improvements over the past couple of years but if he continues to be outside of a school setting, he will digress. He should be entitled to an education like every other child. He has a right to a school place. The family has the right to know that they can prepare for September and not have sleepless nights worrying about what will happen to Sean if he does not go to school, have the routine, structure and support he needs - there is no doubt that he will regress. Like the other parents, Nicola worries about her family. She and her husband work. If they have to give up their jobs, financially, they will struggle. "Why is it that our child, when he has a diagnosis, has to do battle for everything? Everything is a fight." I will pass on Nicola's details to the Minister of State as well.

One special needs educator contacted me to say - this was in the Minister of State's speech - that schools will be given the flexibility to engage staff who are not employed in their schools to support the summer programme. This is about what was known as the July provision. She gave an example:

In 2022, a class of four to six autistic children would have received €240 to €360 a week to arrange trips, organise activities and provide resources. In 2024, the same class will have €120 to €180 per week to do the same things, despite the cost of everything rising. The funding is being cut by €20 per child per week. Are we seeing a repetition of picking the low-hanging fruit we saw during austerity? Why is this happening to the July provision, now called the summer provision? This is another blow to parents. It will not be possible for special needs assistants or teachers to run classes on the basis of these cutbacks. I ask you to please address that issue.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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People Before Profit requested this debate at a meeting of the Business Committee. We are glad it is happening. We requested it because, like everybody else, we are being inundated by families who are concerned for the welfare of their children. It is clear that the State - the Government - is failing children with additional needs and disabilities. That is an unacceptable moral failure that flies in the face of the commitment of this State to cherish all the children equally. It also flies in the face of our legal obligations under the UNCRPD to ensure equality for all children and to provide for their needs and make sure they are not excluded from education. The equation is simple. Children with additional needs who get the support, resources and services they need will thrive and flourish in their lives. If they do not get these, they will struggle. Their ability to reach their full potential will be limited and obstructed and will leave their parents frustrated, tired, angry, stressed and worried. When you talk to parents of children with additional needs, the story is always the same. That is how they feel. I asked Rachel, another mother with a child with special needs and who is in the Public Gallery, what her message is to the Minister. She said simply that when it is a big enough challenge in and of itself to have a child with special needs, why does the Government make it more difficult for them? It is a constant struggle. Somebody else told me today, in simple summary, that having a child with special needs means spending your life on a waiting list or being refused things. There are waiting lists for assessments, waiting lists for services, waiting lists for ASD classes or class places, waiting lists for appointments with children's disability network teams, waiting lists for CAMHS and the list goes on - people waiting and being refused.

Another case brought to my attention involves Kellie, a mother whose daughter Jayda regressed when she was a year old. She was sent to the primary healthcare team for occupational therapy. Kellie was told that Jayda needed a support team, so the family and child were referred to the CDNT. They were accepted and put on a waiting list to be seen. There is a 28-month waiting list. She is also waiting for an assessment of needs, and if she gets her assessment of needs, she will maybe be waiting for these services. There is one more from a meeting we held recently in my constituency. A 17-year-old was diagnosed ASD at the age of six and since then has had three interventions. That is three interventions in the 11 years since, and when she is 18, she will lose all of her supports completely. It is dysfunctional. It is failing. I have brought up several times the new algorithm in the context of special education teaching resources, with one third of schools losing resources. In my area, Monkstown Educate Together has lost a special education teacher. Sallynoggin Killiney Educate Together is massively oversubscribed and has waiting lists for ASD classes. It has asked - as have I on its behalf - for approval for a second ASD class. The one it has is massively oversubscribed. This is a new school. It asked the Department of Education for a new ASD class, and we should bear in mind that some schools do not feel able to have ASD classes. The Department of Education said "No". It will not give it because the school is in temporary accommodation. It will not give it until the school has its permanent accommodation, and the Department has no idea when that will be. There is also the issue that if you have to give up work because you cannot get school places there is means testing for the carers allowance and the prospect of lost income and lost employment. It should have been mentioned that Greg and Nicola are both SNAs, so as well as not being able to get school places for their own children, if they have to give up work because of that the schools in which they work as SNAs will also lose.

There is a crisis and complete dysfunctionality when it comes to resources and services needed for children with special and additional needs both in school and outside school. What is the emergency response going to be to address these problems? Talking to teachers and parents at the meeting I attended, the issue at all of those levels is the lack of staff, whether with waiting lists, SNAs, CDNTs or CAMHS. There seems to be no will on the part of the Government to go out on a massive recruitment drive to fill those posts and not to have a box-ticking approach to this. It needs to treat people on the basis of their needs and humanity as children and to trust the parents and the schools to outline the needs and respond and provide the resources on the basis of the needs of the children rather than some box-ticking exercise.

Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the opportunity to discuss this matter because only last weekend there was a public demonstration organised by parents who are continuing to encounter significant difficulties in getting school placements for their children. Every year, we come across the same range of challenges facing parents who are seeking a suitable school place for their children. The reason for this is a lack of coherent planning by the Department to ascertain the school places needed and to provide accordingly. When I enquired with the Department in March on behalf of a number of parents, I was told that planning for special classes for the 2024-25 school year is currently underway. This is a particular part of the problem. Forward planning on the Department's side appears to be last minute. Six months prior to the start of the school year, the Department is effectively telling parents to start the rush to apply for fewer places than are needed.

Under current legislation, the NCSE does not have any power to designate a place for a child with special educational needs or to require significant classes to be established to support children with complex needs or those on the autism spectrum. Parents consequently find themselves being told that the school they have applied to is already fully subscribed or, worse, that the school they believed their child was going to is oversubscribed and that they should look elsewhere. This often means that parents can be faced with the choice of sending their child out of their community or else educating them from home while the Department gets its act together. It is disgraceful. That is why Sinn Féin tabled the Education (Inclusion of Persons) Bill 2023 to provide for enhanced planning and co-ordination of school planning areas. The Department further advised us and the parents to contact the NCSE locally and that the SENO remains available to advise. I found myself having to appeal to the NCSE to even respond to my queries, while a common complaint from parents relates to their inability to get in contact with the SENO within an acceptable timeframe. That is not a reflection on the SENO; it is, rather, a reflection on the fact that there is a total of two SENOs in County Tipperary. This is all wrong. Sinn Féin brought forward the Education (Inclusion of Persons) Bill 2023 in order that we could amend and extend the education Act to provide for the inclusion of information from special educational needs organisers in school planning. Planning, spaces and an end to the ratio inflicted on parents each year is needed. Article 24 of the UNCRPD demands it, parents demand it and Sinn Féin also demands it.

Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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For most people, having a child with a disability is a major cause of stress. The struggle they go through to try to find a class for them, education facilities and all of that adds to the stress. The experience for these people is that they have to fight all the way for what they need. That should not be the case in a wealthy and well-designed democratic system. We should have an education system that deals with people and ensures that everyone can get fairness and access to education for all of their children regardless of their ability or additional needs. The situation for many children, including in my area and county, is that we see a special education class open in a school and children travel between 30 and 40 miles to it.

Then one opens closer to them and they cannot get into that one because they are already enrolled in the one that is farther away. We have a criss-cross of the State paying for transport for people to travel huge distances over and back to these schools. Some coherent mechanism needs to be put in place to get this system to work everywhere. It simply does not work. I will give an example of a situation. I received a letter on 16 March from parents of a child in St. Clare's Primary School in Manorhamilton. Their four year old son is autistic. He has been enrolled for more than 12 months in the special needs class and has been sanctioned by the SENO. He was supposed to begin next September. However, they were informed by the principal on Friday, 15 March that the class will not go ahead because the Department of Education will not be providing accommodation. Six local children in this situation are enrolled in the school. This is the first time an ASD unit was going to be opened in Manorhamilton, which is quite a large town in north Leitrim.

I asked a parliamentary question about that and received a reply which had a lot of guff in it about looking at data and what the future needs will be, when the future needs are there in front of the people. The principal of the school and the people of the community know what their needs are. They do not need someone to come up with statistical analysis of what their children want. They need to get a service and it is being denied to them. We are told they have been offered a school place to be built, but next September is a short time away in which to have that classroom in place. There is a great need for urgency in respect of it.

In Carrigallen in south Leitrim there is a school that provides special education for many children in the area, some of whom travel long distances to it from as far away as Bellanagh in County Cavan and Drumshanbo in County Leitrim. They come from all over the place because it is one of the schools that provides the service. They have some temporary accommodation in place and an application has been approved for a three-base SEN unit and they want to get it upgraded to a four-base unit. It has been going on for many months. They are future-proofing for the demand they see coming in front of them. Yet, we come back to this nonsense again of someone somewhere on a computer looking at data. That data does not reflect the reality of the people on the ground. We need to get a service put in place urgently in these schools.

Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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It is welcome that we are having this discussion. The problem is that we could probably all operate on the basis of 25 minutes each and deal with multiple issues we all have spinning in our constituencies of parents who have come to us in absolutely dreadful need of services, places in schools and all that is needed when they are dealing with their kids with disabilities.

First, I need to bring up an issue relating to De La Salle College in Dundalk. We all know the issues that exist in the school building programme. Schools give out about the lack of control they have and responsibility. I know of many schools where promises were made about openings, especially for ASD units, for September one year that becomes September of another year. This really has to be dealt with. There are a number of pieces that relate to the matter of this school. The only good news I have had recently is a letter I received from the NCSE. Five families had been told that their sons had been offered places. Then they were told the places were not available. A modular unit was planned but it was to deal with a class already in the school, using classrooms that needed to be returned to the mainstream of the school. In respect of De La Salle College in Dundalk, County Louth, the NCSE told me it is aware of offers having been made and rescinded in respect of autism class provision and that it is following up with the school and the Department of Education with a view to a positive resolution. We are in a four-way conversation at the moment including, the NCSE, the Department, the school and me. I hope it will lead to a positive conclusion. However, I find too often that we deal with these issues and too often they end up being brought up in the Chamber. I have always thought there is an element of failure when you have to go to an elected representative about these issues, but I hope we have a small win in that matter for the parents and children. If the Minister of State can do anything to speed up the process, I would be more than happy.

The Minister of State spoke about therapies. We all know the issues that exist in the CDNTs, primary care and across the board. My son falls into that bracket. Turlough is 15 and my wife went into a panic when he was suddenly transferred from primary care back to the CDNT. She said he would just lie on a waiting list. Many of my colleagues have spoken about the school inclusion model. That is what we need to see. We need to see these services being introduced where there is a need. For a huge number of parents and children, we need to see that happen in a school setting. I would say sooner, better, quicker, faster. That is what we need.

The autism committee met the Association of Occupational Therapists of Ireland, the Irish Association of Speech and Language Therapists and the Psychological Society of Ireland. If we got workforce planning and everything sorted, it could be four or five years before we would see that payoff. They said there had not been a discussion on what were the best means of offering the best service we can to parents at this time. That could be added to with assistive technologies. Lisa Marie Clinton of CentralReach was before the autism committee and spoke of the applications it had developed that could help in this sphere. Many of us are aware of Fiacre Ryan, who is non-verbal, his mother, Carmel, and the huge work they have done using RPM. We have seen an element of piloting of ACA technologies but we need to see a hell of a lot more, a hell of a lot quicker. It is as simple as that.

It goes without saying that we need to look again at the issue of SET hours. I was contacted by Scoil Dairbhre, Scoil Mhuire na nGael and Scoil Naomh Lorcan in Omeath. I will read this tiny piece from the principal:

I am very frustrated that our SET allocation has been cut yet again. Our weekly allocation has been cut from 47.5 hours in 2021/22 to 45 in 2022/23 and has been cut further to 40 hours in 2024/25. These cuts are putting an immense strain on our school’s teaching staff and consequently we will be unable to provide the level of SET teaching needed to support a greatly increased number of pupils with the greatest level of need.

This obviously is not in any way-----

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Thank you, Deputy.

Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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-----good enough. There is an appeals process but I am very worried that we do not take into account complex needs and those with other additional resources-----

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Thank you, Deputy.

Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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-----they are getting at the moment that might not fall into that bracket but could end up in a bracket on the basis of not getting supports.

Like everyone else, I have received a huge amount of correspondence from parents and grandparents with kids with autism-----

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Thank you, Deputy.

Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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-----Down's syndrome and others who require these services. We need to get a hell of a lot better at all of this.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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The Deputy is getting very good at extending his time anyway. He is very good at that.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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Déanfaidh mé mo dhícheall mo chuid ama a úsáid.

I wish the Minister of State well in her post and look forward to engaging with her. The whole situation is very sad. There is nothing more frustrating than young children and adult children waiting for services who cannot get them. Money is being pumped into the system. There is not doubt about that, but there is an awful lot of what I call blackguarding going on. It is going on in south Tipperary CAMHS at an appalling rate. I have had some information from a whistleblower on the staff in Clonmel. It is shameful what is happening. The most vulnerable children are waiting for basic services and blackguarding is going on in the system with people not dealing with the public list and forcing people to go private and getting paid double. They are paid from the public list even though they do not see the children. We await investigations into that. Something has to happen.

I raised this with the Tánaiste last week and in fairness to him he admitted, which is great, that the disability services have failed since 2015. He admitted that and we had another short debate on it today. Last weekend in Clonmel - it is the first time it ever happened - on Saturday more than 600 people marched through the streets, begging for improved services for people with disabilities.

We heard testimony from parents whose children still have no school place for this September and now others will have to travel from Tipperary to Mayo - that is some distance - to get a psychological appointment. That is an awful distance. It is four hours on a good road, and with a child with special issues it might be a day's travel because there would have to be stops and breaks. That is cruel and it should not have to happen.

We heard from parents of children who have no place from September and there is the worry and angst they will have now up to the holidays in June and then afterwards about whether they will have a place. We have heard stories of how efforts to recruit for CDNT teams have been unsuccessful. The lack of accommodation in Clonmel is having an impact on recruitment efforts because if someone takes up a job, they cannot get a place to live.

We are proud of the special schools in south Tipperary. Scoil Aonghusa and Scoil Chormaic are bursting at the seams. Both scoileanna, tá siad i gCaiseal na Mumhan i Tiobraid Árann. They are renowned for the work they do and the amount they do. They are bursting at the seams with huge waiting lists and are under awful pressure. In actual fact, the committee in Clonmel now believes we need a new special school in Clonmel. Clonmel used to be the biggest and is now the second biggest inland town in Ireland. It has a huge hinterland. We need a special school nua in Tiobraid Árann theas. We just need it. The need is there for it.

I know I will be seized on or rained on when I say this here but my late brother was a paediatrician of some renown. When he came home from Africa and talked to me and others, it was the first time I heard the words "autism", "dyspraxia" or "dyslexia". It genuinely was. It was in the very late nineties. He was a champion of children from all over the country and abroad. He was right here battling all the time for those with special needs. He was at that time questioning what is causing all of this. We can never correct anything no matter what it is, or learn from our mistakes if we do not look at the mistakes, how we made them and what happened. There must be a need for understanding the explosion of autism. I will not make little of any one boy or girl who has it. It is so tough and early diagnosis is so important but we must examine why. The last time I raised this here I was berated by a certain Mr. Harris, not the politician, but the other guy from AsIAm. I think Adam is his name. We have to be honest. My late brother put the seeds and thoughts in my head at that time, God rest him. Fuair sé bás go luath. He was very concerned something was causing it, because when I was going to school and the Ceann Comhairle and Deputy Durkan and certainly some others here were, we did not see these issues. There were some issues but nothing like the amount there are now.

I salute every bunscoil and every national school that has autism rooms and services but I wonder do we have to change the model. I was all for that model and I think it is a great one but I think we will have to change it now to have special schools. We have three schools now waiting for a second room. Scoil Mhuire, my own national school in my own village, is waiting and waiting for a second room. There was a small bit of movement recently in the Department but it has been too slow to be waiting for a school building or an extra unit. It is great the board of management, the múinteoirí and the parents council and everybody wants it and they have experience of one already. Trasna an bóthar, 20 míle go dtí An Chúirt Dóite, Burncourt National School again is held up. It has gone so far in stages and is again held up. Then we have the situation in the special schools in Cashel. They are waiting for extra space and everything else, but those two particular schools are in alignment and very hopeful and the teaching staff want to move them ahead.

There are a number of other schools. Tipperary town, Baile Thiobraid Árann, was made famous by the song "It's a Long Way to Tipperary". It is a long way for the daltaí na hÉireann go léir and na daoine óga. There are no educational supports for them. There are five boys' national schools that have all come together now and they have the space and want to get movement here. They have space in a yard and there is the willingness of the principals, teaching staff and board management. The school is in a bad way. A town the size of Tipperary with five national schools bursting at the seams and they have no special educational facilities. That is just not acceptable. There are so many who need the supports.

As I said earlier, the organising committee of action for autism welcomed the Tánaiste's acknowledgment in the Dáil last week that the progressing disability policy has simply not worked and, in the Tánaiste's words, we need to change it. The Minister of State needs to get her hands on the issue and give it a good shake-up. The committee has taken the Tánaiste's offer and I provided the details today from a number of a number families who gave me some very special, sentimental and sensitive details in a letter I handed to the Tánaiste. I hope he meets them. They also asked if the Tánaiste would come down to visit Scoil Chormaic and Scoil Aonghusa in Cashel. I ask the Minister of State the same thing, teacht liom go dtí Caiseal na Mumhan agus agus cuairt a thabhairt ar an dá scoil sin. They do great work so I ask the Minister of State to please come to visit them. They do tremendous work and I know the Minister of State understands it but it would help to get a feeling for how they are there.

We need a major overhaul of the services. Then the children's and parents' nightmare often is that when the child reaches 16, 17 or 18 years of age, there is nowhere for them to go. They were inside special schools and then they are out of them and there are no services or no place to go.

Last week at the march there was a lady and, my goodness, it was heart-rending. It was the first time I had met her. She is from Cork but living in Cashel for a number of years. She and her husband have a buachaill óg and they called him a lovely Irish name which eludes me now. I met them in the crowd. She said she would have to apologise to her son when he got bigger for calling him an Irish name. My goodness. She told me he is five years old - cúig bliana d'aois - and non-verbal - níl aon focal amháin. He is non-verbal has not been seen by anybody at five years of age. Just think about it: a non-verbal child of five. I am blessed to have ten grandchildren from ten years of age down to ten months. It is wonderful, but to think of a child that is non-verbal at five years of age and getting no services. Thankfully, her husband is trained in and works in a special school and can do some therapeutic work with him. However, they cannot get any assessments or special supports.

I love the teanga, it is our national one and the lady has an Irish name herself and to think she will have to apologise to her son when he gets older for calling him an Irish name. I did not ask her why but it was for two reasons. One, it would be more difficult. I know one of my own sons got an exemption from Irish because of being on the spectrum and being dyslexic. That is one of the reasons. The other reason is the nationality in her blood and the culture, heritage and dúchas in her being to call the child that lovely Irish name which I cannot think of, and telling herself she would have to apologise to her son because she could not get services for his more than basic needs. He is non-verbal at five years. Imagine the trauma, angst, worry and stress in that house and not being able to get services.

There are a lot of issues. Money is not everything. The money is flowing in. The Tánaiste said about the health budget and getting up to €7 billion or something. There is a lot of mismanagement and a lot of wagons to be circled and fiefdoms and areas where people are minding their own patches and not thinking of the needs of those special children.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the opportunity to speak on this very important issue. I congratulate the Minister of State on her new position and responsibility. It is a very serious and senior position with a lot of responsibility and issues that need very urgent attention and results in a short space of time.

Right across County Kildare, north and south but particularly in north Kildare, there is huge pressure for school places both in regular schools and for children with special needs. This has been going on for quite a long time. For instance, a replacement for St. Raphael's school in Celbridge has been mooted for 20 years. The school was in need of a replacement 20 years ago and things have changed, they have come and gone, Governments have come and gone and so on and so forth. I was told at public meetings by people who were in the know at the time, and we all know those people, that this was imminent. It would be done at any moment and there was no need to worry about it. That was not true, as we now know, because the three school projects which entailed the replacement for St. Raphael's school on the Dublin Road, Celbridge still have not taken place and the children are still looking for places.

Children who have special needs requirements and those who do not are still looking for places. That should not be the case. Some of us went to an awful lot of trouble because we saw what was happening with respect to the population and the needs that emerged. Several Members of the House set out the catchment areas in each case which had be attended to and catered for. If they were attended to in that fashion, there was no difficulty with raising them because they were provided for long in advance. That did not happen, despite the fact that we went to a great deal of trouble. We now have children with special needs being homeschooled in the constituency, as the Minister knows, which is totally unnecessary. In my time in public life, that has never happened before. It should not have happened and must not happen again.

The point is that there are some people who knew that these kinds of crises were a direct consequence of delaying, crosschecking and delaying again. When we put all these things together four or five years ago, we said we had done our bit and all that had to be done from there on was to ensure that the necessary follow-up took place. Sure enough, a new post-primary school in Prosperous catering for everyone was mooted and agreed. I felt at the time that it would have been built two years ago, or certainly last year. We now find out that the project is in the early stages and that a great deal of planning has yet to be done.

After a public meeting in the town a couple of months ago, there was a request for a meeting with the Minister and the planning section. We were not too impressed by the response of the planning section to public representatives. There is a general sort of feeling that public representatives do not count, that they exaggerate and that they are not clued into the realities. We have to deal with the realities on the ground. During the course of the meeting, somebody let it slip that in a place where there was a new school, the catchment area had been changed. We do not know how it has changed and nobody's permission for that was sought.

Children who live beside a school were being sent to one eight or ten miles away. I do not know how that was considered logical. The catchment area for the two schools involved was completely skewed. It was then disclosed that there would have to be a climate element for any new school proposed. We inquired as to what that was and were told that in the case of a new school emerging, an effort had to be made to ensure that the old, obsolete or unfit school, which was nearby, would offer one of the obsolete places in that school before moving on to the new one. The convoluted logic of that takes some beating.

In the course of these meetings, I discovered that there seems to be no urgency at all. Responsibility is tossed onto the Minister, who has to eventually deal with the outcome. A little careful intervention is required at the appropriate time in order to identify, on the basis of the population, the requirements for new schools, places for children in those schools and children who have special needs in existing, new or modern schools. There is no sense in telling children who have special needs that there is an old school that will satisfy their needs. That is not fair and should not be part or parcel of any policy at the present time. There is no need for it.

We need to plan in advance and take population trends into account. There may be no need for schools for those with special needs, but if there is a need, as there is right now, that results from a sharp increase in population in the area which I live. Everybody else here lives in similar areas in the sense that the population is larger than previously. I am not referring to immigrants; rather, I am talking about the increase in the indigenous population. Incidentally, people who put out rumours about people taking our houses and schools and that we would be all right if it were not for them are engaging in dangerous play that will backfire eventually on the Irish people. We have to deal with that when and if the time comes. I will not refer to people who make threats while wearing masks and so on. That is not something that sits well in this country. There are always consequences, wherever that happened all over the world. We should not go there.

In order to concentrate on the issue at hand, it is important that the Minister takes responsibility for making a decision in circumstances where people have not made one and uses her political initiative to cater for the places that have been identified as being insufficiently served, whether that is in the context of a combination of ordinary or special needs places. She needs to identify the requirements and provide for that within the shortest possible timeframe. We will not be able to do that in the next five or six weeks. If we have a plan in place, however, we can then look for funding, whatever it may be at that stage.

There is a need to take a direct interest in catchment areas. At a meeting with the planning section, our delegation was told to double-check and test whether a suitable school place was available in an obsolete school. Parents have been told to bypass the nearest school to them and instead were offered a place in a different school. Catchment areas have been messed around to such an extent that people do not know where their catchment area was, is or should be, even though their parents and grandparents lived and worked in the same area for generations. In those situations, parents have a right to be annoyed by the kind of situation that has developed in Kildare North and several other constituencies.

The blame is laid at the door of the Minister and Government and Opposition politicians. It is not that simple. There needs to be a root-and-branch rearrangement in the assessment area, a determination of where we need to go and what is required. Along with that, dare I mention school transport? That has a role to play in this. There is not much sense in having places far outside the catchment area , while at the same time trying to determine a catchment area that is adjacent or convenient to a population.

It is appropriate and timely that we are having this debate. It would be better if we had it two or three years ago, but we are where we are now. As a result of having had this debate, we should put in place the measures that are necessary to deal with school transport, primary and post primary schools, special needs places in any of those schools and special schools, if so required, to deal with the situation that has arisen as a result of a rapidly increasing population. There is a responsibility on our part to do all we can do in the shortest possible timeframe to meet those needs, in particular those of the children with special needs to whom I and everybody else present has referred.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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I welcome the opportunity to participate in this debate on special educational needs provision for vulnerable children. I welcome the Minister of State and wish her the best of luck in her new job.

It is important that this issue is debated, although when we read the Minister of State's comments, we would have been forgiven for wondering why it should be discussed in the House when everything seems to be going so well. When she outlined all of the bodies and people she has consulted, there was no mention of the Ombudsman for Children. Surely that office should be one of the first on the list to be consulted in the context of providing practical advice from the perspective of children on how needs could be met in the future. The ombudsman has reported to a United Nations committee on how the State is supporting, or not, children, especially those with special needs. I call on the Minister of State to ensure that the ombudsman is on her list of consultees in order that she might get a picture of how the system could be improved to meet the needs of children.

The Minister of State has outlined improvements in provision and in special schools and that has to be welcomed, but like most areas, there is still more that can and should be done.

One of my concerns is the forward planning of services and making sure supports are available for children when required. It is not beyond the realms of possibility that planning for the provision of school places would happen at least a couple of years before they are needed. Especially in this day and age, most kids should be known to services long before they need a primary school place and definitely before they need a secondary school place. It amazes me how the system seems to be surprised by children in an area needing supports. I do not believe there would be any data protection issues at play here that would prevent agencies from talking to each other and planning ahead. Instead, we have seen the HSE change the requirements to make sure it does not have to provide timely services. How does that benefit children and families? It benefits only the HSE because it can say it does not have the responsibility and it can preserve its budgets. There is an urgent responsibility on the State to update documents and policies that are integral to the provision of services for children in a timely manner. I am also concerned about the use of reduced timetables for children who have special needs. This seems to be a particularly cynical way to get over the difficulty of providing services.

One thing that has come to my attention in preparation for today’s debate is the need to ensure there are adequate supports available for teachers and SNAs who have been injured during their work in schools. It seems bizarre but it appears the Department does not immediately and fully cover the cost of medical treatment, therapy or medication. Staff are not covered by special leave for the duration of medically certified leave. The Department should make sure there are supports available for staff who are victims of violence in the workplace. Of course, this not the fault of students but it is part of working life for some staff and the system should be prepared to support them.

I welcome the fact the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act is being reviewed at this stage, as the Minister of State has outlined. It is 20 years since it was enacted but the review has only just started. Is the Minister of State committed to finishing and publishing the review in a timely manner? That is vitally important. We should not have to wait for the next review to take place. Sadly, we have seen successive governments running a mile from reviews of legislation and making sure reviews are not set down in law when legislation is being passed. It has taken 20 years for the review of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act to happen. It is to be hoped we will see improvements on completion of the review.

I will conclude with an excerpt from the Ombudsman for Children's submission to the UN Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights in January which suggested that the State "should develop and implement a vision and plan to move towards an inclusive education system for all children and engage with schools, parents and children with disabilities in this regard". It is hard to believe that in 2024 this is still an aspiration rather than the norm.

Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change)
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I received an email from the Dublin 12 Campaign 4 Autism Inclusion about today's debate. The group asked me to raise special education provision in the Crumlin and Drimnagh areas. They feel they have been forgotten, even though a special needs school, for which they campaigned, opened in Crumlin recently. They say that Dublin 12 still needs autism classes, especially at secondary schools such as Drimnagh Castle Secondary School, Assumption Secondary School and Loreto College. The secondary school on Mourne Road has one class and is opening one more, but this is not enough given the amount of new-build houses and apartments coming on stream in the area. Where will all of these children go to school if they are autistic? Children will have less chance of getting a school place. The campaign group is asking where children who are heading into fifth and sixth class this September will go. It asks that the Department would finish the area's autism classes audit of needs.

On the NCSE, the group has raised the fact that SENOs want to see the need for autism classes and continually ask the campaign to direct parents to them. The problem is that the NCSE does not seem to have a clue where the parents are. The group is making a strong case that there is a need for a database of children who need early intervention classes all the way up to 18-year-olds. The need for autism classes in Dublin 12 is huge. There are still children leaving the area and others coming in from different areas, which makes no sense. All schools should have autism classes. Therapists are much needed in schools and the group has been arguing this for years. Special schools need on-site therapists, as do autism classes in mainstream schools. Autism classes in mainstream schools need access to speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and other therapists. The school inclusion model, SIM, does not work. Schools need a dedicated team that stays in the school and works with children in situ. There are too many children falling through the cracks. The Dublin 12 campaign group has been raising these issues for the past five years and I would like the Minister of State to take them on board. The Minister of State spoke about the forum that is being set up and these parents will need to feed into that.

I also wish to raise an issue which is not directly related to the Minister of State's remit but it is linked. In the Inchicore-Rialto area of Dublin 8, there is no secondary school at all. Lots of planning applications are being submitted for the area. Dublin City Council and South Dublin County Council are planning what is called the City Edge project, which is a development stretching from Ballymount, down the Long Mile Road, over to Bluebell and encompassing the OPW site and Inchicore Works. That entire area is going to be developed, with lots of new apartments. The LDA owns a lot of the land or will take it over but there is no secondary school in the area. This is an issue that has to be addressed in the coming period and I just wanted to raise it here today.

Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent)
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I start by thanking the NCSE for assisting me with a very serious and complex case in County Clare. A child was left with no school place, which was a very serious and time-pressured situation, but I am happy to say the child now has a place. The NCSE was a great help in that case.

I have raised previously the need for better forward planning for autism classes in post-primary schools. In County Clare, for example, there are 42 special classes at primary level but only 15 such classes at post-primary level. In west Clare there are three primary school special classes but only one post-primary special class. This is also a serious issue the town of Ennis. I take this opportunity to invite the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, to visit County Clare and meet a local group called EVA, Ennis Voices for Autism, a parent-run voluntary group for families of autistic children. Any new people who move to the area link in with EVA, which is a fantastic local group. What comes up time and again is not knowing where children will go when they reach post-primary age. The parents lean on each other and are a great support. It would be great for the Minister of State to meet and have an engagement with them and to see some of the fabulous schools we have in the Banner county.

I also highlight the children who are currently in emergency accommodation in the context of the allocation of SNAs. These are children who have gone through the trauma of their families becoming homeless and, in a lot of cases, due to the location of emergency accommodation, they have endured being displaced from everything they have ever known. All familiarity is gone out the window. They are displaced from their support networks, their school community, their friends and their peers. I accept this situation affects all children but I know from my own experience with my son Travis that it affects children with special needs disproportionately. There is so much regression in their coping abilities, emotional regulation and, ultimately, behaviour. These children need to be prioritised by the Government going forward. There has to be a way to work with local authorities in respect of children with additional needs and the difficulties they face in homelessness. We must ensure that if they have to enrol in a different school, they get to retain their SNA allocation. There must be a mechanism in place to ensure they have the vital support they need in school.

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputies from all sides of the House for their contributions this afternoon. I share their desire to do more for our children and young people with special educational needs.

I share their desire to do more for our children and young people in special education. Deputies referred to a number of specific areas and cases. I will ask the Department to review their queries and provide direct responses. I will try to get through as many of them as I can, but for any I do not cover, the Department will get back to Deputies directly.

Deputy Clarke spoke about the experience and outcomes of disabled children in schools. This is something I want to look at further. The consultative forum will be important in that regard. We are listening to what people are saying to us. There is more consultation happening as part of the review of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004. The Deputy mentioned SENOs. Longford will now have a dedicated SENO and the number of team managers will increase from ten to 20. The NCSE has the power to designate a place for a child with special educational needs. Section 37A of the Education Act 1998, as amended, allows for a school to be compelled to open a special class. However, our preference is to work with schools. That has been working well. There are 1,300 new classes and 11 new special schools in place. The pupil-teacher ratio has reduced by two points over the past two years.

Deputy Tully raised a number of issues. I will refer to inclusive education presently. She talked about multiple applications. There are more SENOs and more team managers in place now throughout the country. There is provision in law for the NCSE to take a more active role in admissions. I will look at that issue. On planning and assessment, the review of student plans is a key part of inspections and whole-school evaluations. The Deputy also spoke about training in special education for members of boards of management. A lot is being done in that regard. The whole area of training, including teacher training, is something on which I am very focused. We want teachers coming out of colleges feeling confident in the area of special needs education.

The review of the Disability Act is a matter for the Department of children. There is absolutely no doubt that the findings of the review of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act will give rise to a need to look at the Disability Act. The new Cabinet committee is looking at CDNTs, their role in the assessment of needs and the issue of transition supports. That is an area on which I am very much focused. NEPS now does most of the work in supporting children to transition from primary to post-primary school. I agree we need to remove the requirement for parents to pay for assessments. NEPS is doing some work on moving away from the medical diagnostic model to an educational model. The Department is feeding into a new autism strategy that is being finalised by the Department of children. That will also address the recommendations of the Committee on Autism.

I advise Deputy Ward that there are 534 special classes in Dublin, with an additional 30 coming on stream for next year and more being confirmed. There are four new special schools in Dublin. The HSE is undertaking two CDNT recruitment drives. Today, I am announcing that two new special school building projects in Dublin are progressing to tender stage, namely, St. Michael's House Special National School in Skerries and Scoil Chiaráin Special School in Glasnevin. Those works will see the replacement of existing buildings that are outdated. They are an example of the progress that is happening.

Deputy Kerrane referred to a school in Monksland in south Roscommon. There has been intensive work ongoing in regard to that school over recent weeks. The NCSE is confident that places will be there for the 18 children who need them. We can provide the Deputy with an update on that situation.

Deputy Duncan Smith spoke about SET hours. The NCSE is available to review the provision for individuals schools, including Holywell Educate Together National School. A total of 90% of the reductions in provision are linked to a fall in enrolments. We need the resources to follow the students when they move from primary to post-primary school. It is important the hours follow the student. Primary school enrolments are set to fall by 8,000 students per year for the next number of years. As a result, a lot of the pressure will come on the post-primary system.

I take on board Deputy Ó Ríordáin's point. We want to talk to special schools about the students they support. The level of need is getting more complex. We need to look at situations where children are travelling past one special school to attend another. That issue was raised by a number of Deputies. I want to talk to schools and patrons about those situations.

Deputy Murnane O'Connor and others mentioned the summer programme. That budget is being used to improve the pay and conditions of teachers and SNAs. The schools are telling us this is where the greatest need is arising. They are telling us to use the €40 million to ensure teachers, SNAs and others are paid at the appropriate rate. I will follow up on the other issues the Deputy raised.

I advise Deputy Carthy that there are 42 special classes in Monaghan, with at least four more coming on stream in the 2024-25 school year. The provision for Monaghan will be considered as part of forward planning. That process is ongoing. I will be happy to update the Deputy in that regard.

Deputy Gannon referred to teacher training. I absolutely want to see mandatory placement for student teachers in a special education setting. The Deputy raised the issue of the summer programme. There is a new initiative to allow schools to hire student teachers from the third week of May through to June and July. That certainly will help schools with the provision of the summer programme.

Deputy O'Reilly also mentioned the summer programme. There are 534 special classes across Dublin. Further work is needed on special education provision in the county. I am happy to look at individual cases.

Deputy Ó Laoghaire referred to Scoil Eoin National School in Ballincollig. New building proposals for the school are under active consideration by the Department's planning and building unit. We will update the Deputy on those proposals.

Deputy Bríd Smith raised the situation of a child called Sam. I am very disappointed to hear of the lack of inclusion in his school. We will have new policy advice that will address the care issue. It certainly will be addressed within my remit. We wrote to all post-primary schools asking them each to plan to provide for, on average, four special classes. This relates back to the pressure that is coming on post-primary schools because of the numbers of children moving into secondary education. The Deputy also referred to the summer programme.

I advise Deputy Boyd Barrett that there are more than 26,000 children in special classes and special schools. Those children are not waiting for provision. I am aware of the pressures and do not mean at all to take away from the issues he raised. Part of the reason the special Cabinet committee was set up was to ensure we can get over these challenges. The HSE waiting lists will be a key focus of the committee. Among the supports in place across the country are 40,000 special education teachers and SNAs. The Deputy raised several individual cases. Two CDNT recruitment drives are ongoing. I will get back to him directly regarding the specific issues he raised.

I advise Deputy Martin Browne that a number of new special classes are being established in Tipperary to meet the need that will arise in September. I can provide him with an update on that. Under section 37A of the Education Act 1998, as amended, the NCSE has the power to direct a school to enrol a child with special educational needs. However, our preference is to work with schools in the first instance.

I will come back directly to Deputy Ó Murchú on his question regarding therapies. The CDNT recruitment drive is under way and efforts are being made on training places. We are working with the University of Ulster, the Department of children and the Department of higher education on providing for greater workforce planning.

On Deputy Durkan's query, I will ask the Minister, Deputy Foley, to get back directly to him regarding the planning and building unit. There is a new special school in Naas, providing 24 places, that is open to admissions at present. There are 116 special classes in Kildare, with 16 new classes already on stream for the 2024-25 year. We do not want children on home tuition. Our preference is to have them in schools, where possible.

I advise Deputy Joan Collins that a new special school opened in Crumlin in 2021. Other special schools are expanding. The Department wrote to all post-primary schools to ask each of them to open, on average, four special classes. I will get back to the Deputy directly on the other issues she raised.

On Deputy Pringle's query, leave is available for teachers and SNAs who are injured in schools. New guidelines will be coming out on supporting good behaviour, as well as new code of behaviour guidelines. The Ombudsman for Children meets Department officials regularly to discuss many different issues.

I had a general reply prepared but there is no more time remaining. I am only in the job a number of weeks. I have hit the ground running. I will get back to Deputies directly on issues they raised.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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The Minister of State has obviously been very busy, for which I thank her.