I thank Sinn Féin for bringing this motion to the House this evening. Early intervention classes are a pivotal part of the continuum of support for children with additional needs and autistic children who are not yet ready to transition to a special class or into school more generally, yet an insidious pattern is emerging in the treatment of early intervention classes. They are being slowly but surely phased out under the guise of inclusivity. A reply the Department recently gave to a parliamentary question of mine on this issue clearly shows what is happening. It stated that the Department of education and the National Council for Special Education are pushing for early intervention classes to be repurposed to meet wider special class demand. Incredibly, we are told that this is about inclusion and about meeting need. In reality, it means that one essential form of educational provision is being scaled back to meet need elsewhere - a classic case of robbing Peter to pay Paul. The Government is getting away with this because it is happening gradually, under the radar, and because the group of children affected at any given time is relatively small. Presenting this as inclusivity is not just misleading; it is deeply cynical. A class that should be there for a new cohort of young children is instead being absorbed into the primary school system to patch over shortages there. Early intervention classes serve a distinct purpose. They can be the bridge into education for children who need intensive support at the earliest stage. These classes can help children develop communication, regulation, routine and many of the core skills needed to engage with school life. Investment at that stage can yield enormous benefits later in a child’s education and development, and I have heard that directly from primary school teachers and principals, who are deeply concerned by this quiet phasing-out of early intervention classes. Crucially, they are often essential for children who are not yet ready to transition into a special class. If we hollow out that provision, we will leave some of our most vulnerable young children without the support they need at the very point when early intervention matters most. The national figures point in the wrong direction. After previous growth, the total number of early intervention classes fell from 157 in 2024-25 to 149 in 2025-26 and Cork shows that pattern very clearly. Instead of strengthening early intervention provision, there is a clear reduction over time, with six fewer early intervention classes now in Cork than existed in 2020. That trend needs to be reversed. The Government should not preach about inclusive education while quietly reducing access to the early intervention provision that many children depend on in order to get into education in the first place. It is crucial that the Government acknowledges the distinct and irreplaceable value of these classes and commits to protecting them from routine redesignation.

Sentiment score: 0.19