Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his comments and questions. We will consider putting together a report but at the moment we are dealing primarily with getting all our children with SEN back to school. That is the priority right now but it may well merit some sort of report. I do not believe in having reports just for the sake of them but if we felt it would achieve something and we could learn from it into the future, it is something we would consider. I thank the Deputy for raising that.

Regarding supports for children who are not back in school at the moment, the supplementary programme I mentioned provides one-on-one teaching outside of school hours and at weekends. The inspectorate also has a Covid-19 helpline, which is available for schools. The National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, has published a document on supporting the well-being of students with SEN returning to school, which is being revised and is a very comprehensive resource. People can contact NEPS psychologists or the NEPS office directly because the well-being of children with special needs is crucial at the moment, more so than for other children. The NCSE has a dedicated phone line and the NCSE adviser will support SEN access during this period. Special educational needs organisers, SENOs, are also available to support parents where children are experiencing challenges in returning to school. Those supports will be important.

I will call Ms Kearney in a minute to answer the Deputy's question on the Cope Foundation transport issue. He and I have spoken many times about Cork. The NCSE is aware of 20 children in Cork who are not in school and who require a special school place. They are currently availing of the home tuition scheme. Some 116 children in the Cork area have a recommendation for a special school placement but the majority of those are currently in a special class placement. There is much engagement going on between the Department, the NCSE, school management, the Cope Foundation and the patron of Scoil Aislinn about expanding - or not, as the case may be - to provide further places in that area. There were a number of meetings last autumn, as the Deputy knows, and a further meeting with the Cope Foundation is planned as well.