Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for being here. This saga has been going on for a number of years. As he knows, I am our party's spokesperson on special education and have an interest in this area. Ballincollig as a community has a fairly large population of about 26,000, if not more at this stage. In comparison with the large number of people living there, it has had very few ASD classes over the years. I think it is up to a total of 14 now between all the schools at primary and secondary levels. Some progress has been made in recent years, but ultimately we are way behind other parts of the city and county. Ballincollig, as I have pointed out in the House in the past, has a tradition of having its ASD needs met in surrounding rural villages such as Farran, Ovens, Berrings, Dripsey and places like that.

A number of TDs, including me, were asked to attend a meeting at the school nearly a year ago, where we were given an update on the school's dealing with the Department of Education. Since 2021, Scoil Eoin in Ballincollig has had an application in with the Department for additional ASD and special education units. Three years on, we are still none the wiser whether these will be sanctioned. There are undoubtedly difficulties in the school and the Department will no doubt state in the script provided to the Minister of State that it has maximised available space. A proposal has been submitted to knock the older part of the school and build a two storey, if needed. A decision was taken two years ago that more or less stated that was not the most cost-efficient way of delivering special educational needs provision in the wider Ballincollig area.

I understand they are now looking at other schools in the area that would have sufficient land to cater for the ASD needs of the wider area. For parents of the children in Scoil Eoin listening to that, it will not given much solace that children cannot get an ASD class in the school that many have attended for the past four, five or six years. The process started in 2021. We are three years on and many of the kids who required the ASD class have probably gone on to secondary level.

I do not expect there will be much progress indicated in the response provided to the Minister of State but I raise it to highlight the complete lack of efficiency in dealing with this case and, more widely, in forward planning in the Department. We all hear responses here stating statistical analysis and demographic projections are being done and, much of the time, many years are lost. I am interested in the Minister of State's response, although I have a fair idea what it will say.

If I were to ask the Minister of State to take one thing away this evening, it would be to deliver the message to the Department of Education and the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, that a decision needs to be made on this school one way or the other to give parents finality in terms of how they plan for their child's future education.