I congratulate the Leas-Cheann Comhairle on his elevation to the position and wish him the very best of luck. It has been a long time since we shared an office in the engineering block many years ago. We have both served long apprenticeships in this building. I thank Deputy Quaide for raising the issue. I stress that enabling students with special educational needs to receive an appropriate education is a priority for me and the Government. It is the Government’s priority to ensure that all children have an appropriate school placement and that the necessary supports are provided to our schools to allow children with special educational needs to flourish and prosper. The spend on special education is at an all-time high, with more than a quarter of the education budget allocated to special education, providing additional teaching and care supports for children with special educational needs. Since 2020, almost 1,700 new special classes have been provided, bringing the total to more than 3,300. Over the same period, 11 new special schools have been opened. Four of these new special schools opened last year and five more will be established for the 2025-26 school year. Of these 16 new special schools, four are located in County Cork. In 2023, a new special school was established in east Cork in Carrigtwohill. This special school will grow and expand over time. I am absolutely sure of that. By the end of this year, there will be 17 special schools in the country educating more than 1,000 students. More than 400 new special classes were sanctioned for the present school year, with classes provided in every county. Of these, 66 were sanctioned in County Cork. This brings the total number of special classes in County Cork to 563, comprising 395 at primary level and 168 at post-primary level, providing places for approximately 3,400 students. An additional 22 classes have already been sanctioned for the 2025-26 school year and more will be sanctioned in the coming weeks. The vast majority of these classes are autism classes and have a teacher-student ratio of 1:6. Some 120 SENOs now operate nationwide, 18 of them operating solely in County Cork. The NCSE has completed more than 1,000 school planning visits nationwide in recent months. These meetings will be key to determining which schools will open new special classes in the 2025-26 school year. The Deputy referred in particular to Youghal and the issues there. He is correct that Deputy O'Connor raised the matter with me a number of times. We have had a number of discussions on it. I look forward to visiting the schools and engaging because it is a priority for me to ensure that places are available in a timely fashion at both primary level and post-primary level. There is a great deal of work going on and there is an awful lot of need out there. I have met the SENOs, the NCSE and the Department of Education officials on numerous occasion in recent weeks to impress on them the importance of making sure people find out where their children are going to school in a timely fashion, particularly in terms of the transition from primary to post-primary school, where there is a particular difficulty nationally. However, we are working to ensure that the advice and information is given to parents in a timely fashion to avoid as much stress as possible, as there is no doubt that families are under enormous stress over these issues.

Sentiment score: 0.28

There is funding available in the current year for additional classes. In his earlier contribution Deputy Quaide mentioned Waterford and Dungarvan, and it would be remiss of me not to refer to that. We have had a number of meetings in relation to the issues there as well. Most recently we met with the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, and with officials to try and make sure there is a focus on that and so that we understand the challenges there. I understand the challenges first hand in relation to these issues. The Government is committed to ensure there are places available. Our duty is to make sure those places are available in a timely fashion. I will be working with the NCSE, and with the Department of Education officials to make sure they are available in a timely fashion. There are more SENOs this year than ever. They are in place and on the ground since 1 September. As I said at the outset, they are working through 1,000 school visits. We have to bring that together over the next number of weeks because we have to give certainty to parents. Parents are stressed and are extremely concerned, not just about the transition but also about where they are going to have places. It is totally and absolutely wrong that children are travelling long distances to school. These are children with additional needs and they are expected to travel for over an hour in some instances. That practice cannot continue. We must make sure that we have school places in the communities at primary and secondary levels. We must ensure that all children, especially those with additional needs, are accommodated within their communities insofar as possible. I cannot stress enough that this has to be communicated to parents, families and children in a timely fashion because heretofore it was not. We had some instances where the children did not know where they were going when they finished primary school. They did not know in the last week in June where they would be in the first week of September. That practice is no longer acceptable. We will work might and main to ensure we iron out those difficulties.

Sentiment score: 0.14