Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am in Leinster House. Hopefully I have good coverage.

I thank the Minister of State. I too welcome her today. We are all particularly glad to see children with additional needs going back to school, whether it is for education, social needs, routine or inclusiveness. It is important that we are on the right track. That is something we need to build on. I know we are all waiting for the living with Covid-19 plan. However, it is important to provide communication and give correct dates, and ensure that there is no confusion. I know last time there was a bit of confusion over dates.

I welcome the dates that the Minister of State has announced today because it is important. Originally, when the schools were ready to go back, we saw that within a few hours of the announcement of the reopening of applications, they were oversubscribed by a ratio of approximately 2:1. As many parents and children were glad to get back into their normal routine, it is important to make sure that we have communications and that we open them as soon as possible.

Some special education settings have only ten or 12 students. It occurs to me that partial reopening was geared towards large schools and no autonomy was offered to smaller schools. The Minister of State might come back to me on that.

I also wish to raise what I am sure is a huge issue for many of us. Parents have contacted me about SNA allocations. It has become a huge issue, even for children going to mainstream schools who attend an autistic spectrum disorder, ASD, unit. At present, I am working on cases from County Carlow. We need to make sure we have enough units. I acknowledge this is something to which the Minister of State is committed but at present, even in my area of Carlow, there are not enough places for children who need to go to school, particularly in respect of one school. We need to find a solution to this issue and I will provide the Minister of State details of the cases I am dealing with to see if she can help me with them.

I also wish to discuss with the Minister of State the issue of school transport, particularly in my own area. Holy Angels Day Care Centre is a special education school in my area. The HSE used to insure vehicles for this facility. It would also provide help in that if something happened with the bus, for example, it would replace it. However, this all changed in 2009. Since then, the cost has been borne by the facility. The cost of insurance surprised me, as it costs approximately €5,000 per year to insure one of these buses. No additional funding or supports are given.

Last year, Holy Angels had to launch a fundraising appeal to add to the Lotto funding to replace its bus. This is unacceptable. However, even these types of issues are not just about the actual vehicle. Individual seating for each child, which must be replaced by the children using these buses when they grow and move on, costs more than €100 per seat. Again, that is another cost these schools simply cannot afford. Funding for escorts for these types of transport is not covered by a section 39 grant. I am sure the Minister of State is aware of that. During the Covid-19 pandemic in particular, schools had to employ additional escorts and funding was not provided. My understanding is that no extra funding is now being given for escorts for these buses. I ask the Minister of State to look at this.

The final issue is about school transport. It is important, particularly for children who are attending mainstream schools. Buses now pass the doors of homes with children who are in a unit in a mainstream school and who are just not getting on board. I also the Minister of State to work on that for me. Perhaps she could revert to me with the answers.