I agree with Deputy O'Rourke. He said that every week his office is contacted by parents who simply cannot secure appropriate special education places for their children. It is the same in my office. I had such a contact just an hour and a half ago. When parents cannot access local provision within Dublin Fingal West, they are told to go into Dublin or to the adjacent counties of Meath and Louth. I would love to see the emails the Ministers receive. I am sure that people around the country are in similar situations to those I hear about in Dublin Fingal West. It is simply not acceptable that parents are asked to put children with special needs on a bus for 90 minutes in the morning and in the afternoon just to access education. Every child should have the right to attend school in their local area with their siblings and friends and in their own community. In my own constituency of Dublin Fingal West, parents come to me who are desperately trying to secure appropriate places for children with Down's syndrome. Parents were recently told there were three places available in one school but there were 57 applications. That is the stark reality that families are facing. I thank Ruth and Fidelma from Down Syndrome Ireland, who met with me on this issue last month. I will try to put forward a solution. I raised this last year with the Tánaiste. Children in early education are in ASD pre-school settings where the access and inclusion model, AIM, is in use. Those figures can be used to plan ahead and ensure that supports are in place for primary schools. There is a clear two-year window there before the transition and it should be used.

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