Before starting here, I taught in schools for 34 years, the last ten years in special education, but I have never seen things so bad in terms of the shortage of appropriate school places and SNA provision for those with behavioural, sensory, emotional or communication difficulties. The State is systematically failing these children, their families and the professionals I worked with. This week I have been contacted by school principals from the Wicklow-Wexford area, many distraught, with harrowing stories of struggles they face to get their children the education and the services they need and deserve. We have the new Gorey Hill School for students with special needs, which I know the Minister has visited. I met her there. That has a temporary building which is expanding into the grounds of the adjacent Gaelscoil, where I used to work, and that is now full. It will not be able to take a single student in September. It needs a new greenfield site for a bigger school. Some children cannot get school places in my area. Others may have to stay at home and wait another year, which is absolutely shocking, as my colleague pointed out. Public transport is a huge issue. Others said it would prevent them from actually going to school. The principal in Bearna Chlé, Johnstown, spoke of a shocking shortage of help in assessing assessment-of-need applications, with an allocation of just three hours per day. I also had a Kilmichael parent of three autistic children on to me. Another mother has to get a solicitor to get an assessment of need and had to travel to Cork. How did it come to this? I have been working for the past year on transport and I feel we have Groundhog Day coming up this summer. I am working with parents from the Castletown, Camolin, Bunclody and Gorey Educate Together areas, working with the Minister's Department and working with parliamentary questions and everything else. I have a feeling we will be back to square one in a couple of months' time. Lastly, there is Our Lady of Fatima School in Wexford being re-designated in a very underhand way. This has to stop. I ask the House to support the motion and guarantee that anyone who needs additional support will receive it in September.

Sentiment score: -0.07