Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for her engagement. I appreciate that, this September, we have had record numbers of places in the schools that have come on board. However, to give a quote, a deputy principal in one of the schools says that clear training and planning for the opening of ASD classes is needed in schools, and that it is not enough to sanction one and then leave it to the principal to project manage and upskill the staff. It is said that the NCSE is not supporting the process as it should, and that the waiting lists are incredibly long to get education staff on the courses on managing challenging behaviour. There are more children than ever with learning difficulties in classrooms. SNAs are being run ragged, giving ten minutes here and ten minutes there, which does not provide effective support to the children who need it.

I also know of schools that were obliged to take children on board. That is great. I am delighted there are places for children, and I will certainly fight for that. However, the allocation of SNAs did not go up proportionately in response to the number of children with complex needs. We have this interplay involving the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, the HSE and the Department of Education. To take CHO 7, it is desperately under-resourced in terms of the failure of recruitment to bring in the occupational therapists and special needs specialists that are required. We have a difficulty in that regard. I am concerned about the transparency and accountability of how we are going to ensure the supports are put in place around children. Those are the first two points.

My third point is that, post Covid, we are hearing of a lot of mental health issues and the need for mental health supports, particularly for children with disabilities, and the fact they are recovering post Covid but they can be experiencing or manifesting trauma. I would like to know what plans are being put in place for that.

There is obviously the issue of school transport. There are still residual issues on that and I would like to hear the Minister's comments.