Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman and wish the Minister of State good morning. The Minister of State referenced that she is in favour of and aspires to inclusive education. However, the special units she proposed a few weeks ago could not be further from inclusion. Has that proposal been completely withdrawn at this stage? We all know children will blossom if they are in the correct setting with sufficient resources and that is what we want to see. I am aware it is necessary now to bring in the emergency legislation because there are insufficient places this year but it is something that is happening year after year. The NCSE was here last week and its officials indicated they have regular meeting with the Minister of State and with the Department. The council has the data on how many children have additional needs so why is there not proper planning to ensure there are sufficient places, especially for children progressing from primary to post-primary? They are in primary for eight years and their needs have to be known. We know they are going to need a place in a post-primary school in their area.

Also on the NCSE, I welcome the fact the Minister of State recognises it needs additional resources and will be providing them. The NEPS is in need of additional resources as well. I think it was pointed out last week the number of special educational needs organisers, SENOs, employed by the NCSE is lower now than when it was first established. That is something that needs to be addressed.

There is also the issue of the number of students who must travel outside their area to access appropriate education. More than 15,000 children travel. That is quite an expense. There is one area where it is costing over €72,000 per day to bus children to appropriate school placements outside their areas.

There are also 1,455 students in receipt of home tuition. That may be a choice for some but for many it is not and is being done because the school placement has broken and children were unable to access an appropriate school placement. I am wondering what plans the Minister of State has to address those issues.

It has also been referred to that we need more places within our schools for children with additional needs but the place is not the only thing that is needed; we need more qualified teachers, SNAs, resources and sensory rooms, etc. I have been told of cases where a young, newly-qualified teacher has been told by the principal that he or she will take the special class for a year or two and then they will give him or her a full-time position. That is not fair on the children and not fair on the teacher either. Those teachers are not qualified. Many teachers will do their utmost to teach those children but then they will move on, so it is not fair on the children who are not getting appropriate education.

The Minister of State did not reference summer provision in her opening statement. What are the plans to improve that scheme, because something drastic needs to happen? It is too late for this year but for next year something needs to happen.