Ms Paula Prendeville:

I thank Senator Seery Kearney for her comments. From the NCSE's perspective, we absolutely recognise the challenges that families have in her constituency with regard to accessing places. In relation to our policy advice, we would recognise that every child should be entitled to access local schools in their local communities, and that accessing those schools in the communities means they are part of the community and everybody has an awareness of their need. It is very much the case that they should get the supports in their own environment.

We have SENOs on the ground. I appreciate the Senator speaking about the dissatisfaction in south Dublin with regard to school placements. We have made inroads in that space. As recently as yesterday, two senior Ministers opened a new school - Our Lady of Hope School, which caters for children with significant needs in that area. Notwithstanding that, there is still a significant need for placements for children in schools. At cross-sectoral level, they are mapping the need for placements, not only for September but in the upcoming years, so that at least within the Department of Education we are mapping those supports and requirements and planning on the long-term basis.

The matter of opening schools and opening special classes in schools is a matter for each board of management. I am aware that there are SENOs who are continuously engaging with schools in seeking those supports and accessing and asking boards of management to open places for children.

We are aware that there will be places for all students that we currently know about for September and the subsequent years. What is happening, however, is that when classes open in schools and parents go into the schools to seek those places - we recognise this as an organisation because when parents contact us directly to say they are living in a certain area and they are looking for support, our SENOs would be aware that there are places available - it turns out that some of those places end up being taken up by students who are currently in the school. The allocation of those places is a matter for the boards of management and school principals. Even though the planning is done, when it comes to mapping out the children who get access to those classes, some of those places are taken up by students who are already in the system. Due to data protection, etc., we cannot turn around and ask schools in advance how many of their current students will access those classes so that we will have knowledge and awareness of the students who will need the support in those schools. I clarify that in relation to where we are coming from. We have an extremely committed group of staff who engage with the Department on a weekly basis and with the schools on a daily basis, and the archdiocese, etc., to ensure that all children have places.

In relation to planning supports over the long term, I have heard from all speakers today about considering transitions, not only as students leave school but also throughout the lifespan of the student in school. The Senator's question today is around students who need access to those placements at the start of their school lifespan. We encounter some students who need supports due to different variations that can happen. For instance, they may have debilitating conditions where they start off a school trajectory in a mainstream environment without needing any access to extra supports, but while they progress through the system their needs can vary greatly to the extent that there could be significant mental health needs that occur towards the end of their trajectory. We welcome that idea of having that lifespan approach and mapping out skills for life across the trajectory of the needs of the young person.

While there is that requirement, we also recognise in the NCSE there is a demand for children to access specialist placements when they start in school. Our experience would be that in the early years in primary school in a mainstream setting, within junior infants, senior infants, first class and second class, it is very much a play-based curriculum that we now have in place with the Aistear programme. We recognise that for an early intervention process to be inclusive of all children with all needs, there are significant benefits for young children to access mainstream supports within schools and access additional supports. The focus of the planning would be that the children with the greatest level of need would get access to the greatest levels of support. Our view would be that every child obviously has access to an education and that there would be merit in parents recognising for young children starting schools that while there is significant anxiety among parents around children getting a diagnosis of a disability, recognising the considerable needs and wanting to have the greatest level of support, there is a significant level of support that can be gained from students accessing a mainstream setting where they can learn from their peers and access those supports around the holistic capacity-building approach that is in schools.

The Senator may have further questions or may want me to discuss that further.