Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The issue that I raise is one that is close to the Minister's heart. I will focus on the Cork region. I have said to the Minister before that there is a chronic lack of spaces for students with autism in ASD special classes attached to mainstream post-primary schools in the Cork area. At present, there are five mainstream post-primary schools that provide special classes. Nagle community college has two classes catering for 12 students; Deerpark has six classes catering for 36 students, which will be reduced this year to four classes catering for only 24 students; North Monastery on the north side has three classes catering for 18 students; St. Vincent's has three classes catering for 18 students; and Ursuline secondary school has one class catering for six students. Unfortunately, as the Minister is aware, a place in each of these special classes only becomes available when an existing student graduates. This is inadequate to meet the current demand for available places. For example, Nagle community college's ASD programme steering committee will very shortly meet to decide upon their enrolment next year. It can only pick four students because only four of its students will graduate. Only four places will become available, yet it has a list of 15 students - 12 boys and three girls. This means 11 students who were in special classrooms at primary level will not be able to avail of that at post-primary level.

The sad thing is that the girls might possibly get a place in St. Vincent's or Ursuline's but for the 12 boys there is no other option because the remaining schools with ASD special classrooms at post-primary level will not enrol anyone next year. Deerpark and North Monastery will not take any students into their special classes next year. In 2016, there will only be four places in special classrooms and ASD classrooms in the whole of Cork city offered to boys with special needs. In 2017 - we know these figures - there will be no places available. In 2018, there will only be one place available. In the past, to try to address this, the local special educational needs officers, SENOs, have asked each of the post-primary schools to look at establishing a special ASD classroom.

To date, only one school in the Cork region, namely, Ursuline secondary school, has taken up that request. No other school has taken up the recommendations from the local special educational needs organisers, SENOs.

There are 15 autism spectrum disorder-specific classes in Cork city but as I stated, two of them will cease this year, thereby reducing the number to 13. If one considers the number of students attending primary school who hope to graduate into post-primary education, there are 66 classes at primary level, which contain 396 students in total, but yet in the entire Cork region there are only 34 classes that cater for 204 places. As 396 students will never go into 204 places, there always will be a chronic shortfall.

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