Ms Mary McGrath:

A SENO will advise parents of the schools of which they are aware which have places coming up or available for the forthcoming school year. The SENOs are engaging with schools on a continuous cycle of planning additional special classes and special school placements. Those special classes, etc., are confirmed at different points in the school year so the SENO is updating parents who are seeking special school and special class places as they become available.

We experience pinch points at certain times in parts of the country. We have triggered the legislation, which was commenced in 2018, twice in Dublin where schools which did have space were not responding to requests from SENOs to open special classes. We had recommended to the Department that such legislation be introduced as we knew we were reaching a saturation point in some areas.

This was only in a very small area where some schools were not responding positively to the SENO's requests. The SENO supports parents in identifying where placements are available. He or she updates parents as new placements become available and more information becomes available to us.