Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise this issue. While I am delighted to have the Minister of State, Deputy Áine Brady, here in her new position, I would have liked to have had the Minister with responsibility at the Department of Education and Science taking this, as it is a serious issue. The forthcoming closure of the special classes at St. Brendan's boys primary school and the Mercy primary school in Birr has caused great upset and concern in the area, especially for the children and families affected.

We debated this issue in the House a number of weeks ago and at the time, I outlined the plight of the children who I know are affected. When the Minister first made this announcement to close 128 classes last February, it caused consternation in the schools and among the families affected. There was rightly and understandably outrage at the decision.

At the time, the Minister committed that local arrangements could be made where numbers allowed them, and I believe the numbers allow them here. Indeed, during the debate in Private Members' time, many Deputies from the Minister's side of the House looked for special arrangements to be made in the areas they represent.

I raise this issue because I want to know exactly what local arrangements can be made in regard to the two primary schools in Birr. There are 13 children between the two primary schools in the special classes. There have always been special classes in both these schools. The key issue appears to be a push towards total integration, regardless of whether it suits the child.

Some 12 of the 13 children in Birr - children from all over south and west Offaly - already tried mainstream class but it did not work. These 12 children were already in mainstream classes in their local primary schools. Mainstream class is where every parent hopes their child will be. These 12 families made the very difficult decision with professional advice and guidance that the mainstream class was not helping their children. They made the decision to move their children to one of these two schools because of what was best for them. They have told me of their delight and joy in watching their children finally begin to blossom, develop and make friends in a way which did not seem possible before.

St. Brendan's has had four full-time special needs assistants for children designated as being in need of this help. This school should be at DEIS band 1 like its sister school but it is stuck at band 2 with no opportunity for review until after 2010. Along with Mercy primary school, it will now lose its special class. However, in addition, St. Brendan's is expecting to lose two-thirds of a special needs assistant post. It has not been officially notified yet. It has been told by its special educational needs organiser that she has made this finding but is submitting it to a higher authority for approval. Not only are these children being forcibly reintegrated into mainstream classes, which have proved not to suit them, with the withdrawal of the special classes, they are also set to see a reduction in special needs assistant support. They will have less than they had before they went into the special class.

This is wrong. The original decision was wrong and these extra cuts reinforce the error being made. Instead of compensating these children for the loss of these classes, the Minister is taking more away from them.

The Minister stated in a letter to me last week that the decision to take away special classes is not being done for economic reasons so he should use that money being saved to help those children. He promised there would be a solution. Those representing his party promised a solution and Fianna Fáil Deputies looked for one in the debate last week.

I would like an outline of exactly what will be done. Both schools are willing to enter into any arrangement where they could still have a special class, whether sharing a teacher or whatever, because anything is better than the total loss they expect. I hope the issue of the possible withdrawal of special needs assistant support from St. Brendan's will also be addressed because these children cannot afford to be in a worse off position than they were before they entered the school.

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