Ms Mary McGrath:

There have been significant increases in the provision of special classes in Cork over the past number of years. The number of primary autism special classes has increased by 240% to 166 since 2015. Similarly, at post-primary level, the number of special classes has increased by 205% to 70 since 2015. We engage in a continuous cycle of planning for special classes with parents, professionals, schools and their patrons. As I said earlier, generally the schools respond very positively to local requests from SENOs to establish special classes and respond to the needs of the children and young people in their community.

We are aware of a growing demand for special school placements over the past number of years and have engaged very co-operatively with the existing special schools and their patrons over this period. We are aware of a small number of children who are without a special school place for September 2021 and are working very closely with the existing schools, their patron and our colleagues in the Department of Education and Skills.

All the stakeholders together are exploring a number of options with a view to providing a short-term solution and more medium-term solutions and we hope we will make significant progress in this space over the coming period.