Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for missing the private session of the meeting because, unfortunately, I was delayed coming up from Cork and only got here in time for this contribution. There are many issues that I would like to raise around the school inclusion model, about which I have particular concerns. I also have concerns about the allocation of special educational teachers. I know remarks have been made in that regard. Many people representing teachers involved in new and developing schools have a different view of what was announced a week or two ago in terms of the allocation model.

I will focus on two issues. I will pick up from what was said by Deputy O'Callaghan and address similar issues. When I speak to parents who have children with special educational needs, there is enormous frustration and a sense that the system is, if not a bit broken, certainly a bit dysfunctional. One would imagine that there is information on every child, particularly those who are in special schools and those progressing to post-primary level about how many children there are and how many places should be made available, yet those places never seem to be available. That applies to units and special schools. I want to understand how the National Council for Special Education and the Department anticipate demand. How are we failing to meet demand? There is a crisis in Cork city relating to special units and special schools. Why are we not anticipating future demand? What are we doing to fix that? It is too common, in particular at this time of year, for families to contact me because they have no school places for their children in September or even the following September. One family that was in contact with me had received rejections from 12 different schools in Cork and had nowhere to go in September. The situation is similar as regards special schools. Our guests might be aware that at least six children will be leaving Cara Junior School and have no special school places. The Department should surely have anticipated that this need would arise.

There is a specific crisis about places and units that I am going to localise to Cork, to some extent. There may be some schools that should be opening units and have not but, overall and at both levels, we are not getting ahead of demand and putting in place the provision in advance. I would like a comment on that. I am sure our guests heard Mr. Gary Murphy talking about his son on "Drive Time" last week and the frustration that he has faced, as have so many other families.

It is widely agreed that children with special educational needs were among those who lost out the most during the lockdown.

I welcomed the fact that last year's programme was expanded. There were parents who were disappointed with the hours that were available and the difficulty in getting through the past year so it is crucial that this year's programme is the largest and most comprehensive ever to ensure those who lost out the most are supported and given the greatest assistance possible to catch up and maintain education over the summer months. Can the witnesses outline whether there are plans to expand on last year? One of the biggest obstacles for those who want to receive it at home is finding tutors. Has work been done on any kind of centralised database of teachers and SNAs who are willing to provide this tuition to make it easier for parents to navigate? It is a simple thing the Department could do. Could Mr. Murtagh comment on any progress regarding the new building for St. Gabriel's Special School?