Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It would be useful to see metrics for the number of school applications and the number of SNAs allocated. It would also be useful to know the number of appeals and the population of students to which the SNAs relate, and would demonstrate the level of support. I wonder where within this the autism spectrum disorder, ASD, units come into play? Some areas have a very low number of ASD units. For example, County Kildare only has 11 units. This morning, I spent an hour and a half with the mother of a young boy who is in fifth class in primary school and who has no prospect of getting a place in a secondary school when he completes primary less than 18 months from now. That is a matter of great concern and I see that mirrored across my constituency. I am sure it is the case in every other constituency. I know this matter is somewhat separate from the salaries of special needs assistants but it is related to that. So many schools need to have special units and they need to have those six students. In my experience, schools are saying that they can access the six students but are having their applications for special units turned down.