Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)

I am glad to see that the Minister of State with responsibility in this area is here tonight.

Last week I was contacted by the parents of two children both aged seven and each without a place in a school for the coming September. These children are lucky they have parents who are very proactive but even they were surprised at the late notice to inform them that the school which the children had attended for the last three years could not offer them a place for the coming year.

Both children have special needs and will need a lot of support in order to remain at mainstream school. The parents have applied to three other schools and have in at least one case appealed under section 26 of the Education Act. All that it is possible for the parents to do they have done, and they are still trying desperately to ensure that their children have a school place this September. In the words of the mother: "I am running around chasing my tail and becoming more desperate every day. When I ring the national education welfare board to speak to the office dealing with my daughter's case the phone rings twice and then stops. There is no voice mail and no return call." All the schools are now on holidays and it is unlikely that places will be found for these children before September.

How hard can it be to ensure that children who started school at five have a place at seven? We all know that additional supports are needed but surely, with two years in which to assess their educational needs, it should be possible to provide school places for children who are already in school. The last date for enrolment in most schools is 31 March yet these parents were not informed until the start of June, way too late for the children to apply for a place in another school. Why was it left until the last minute? Last week, having worked on this the whole week long, I eventually decided to phone the national education and welfare board. Imagine my shock last Friday when in order to move this on and try to get a place for these children I phoned to speak to someone, only to be told that the officer dealing with the case was on holidays. People need to take holidays but when I asked when he would be back I was told not until the 30 August. I thought it was a joke at first, since that was the day the schools were going back. The same day the children are due to start school is the date the officer dealing with the case will be back at work, 30 August. On further inquiry it would appear that eight people are working in the NEWB office in Cork, and six are now on holidays, returning on 30 August.

This to me, seems incredible, but I am assured it is the case. It also explains to me in detail why there is always an enormous panic during the summer in terms of school places and why nothing happens in that period. During the summer there is always a panic about why nothing happens in addressing availability of school places. The children in question will not be dealt with until 30 August. This means that even if a place is found for them in the primary school system, it will not be well into September. By then the rest of the school will have already started and these children will be playing catch-up, as if they were not playing it to begin with.

Why is it left until the last minute to inform these parents about the placements in the schools their children were already attending? Why is no one available to help them? The kids in question have proactive parents. What about those who have parents with their own difficulties?

When parents seek assistance from staff in the National Education Welfare Board who are paid to assist them to find their way through the process, they find they are not available for the entire summer as they have the same conditions as national school teachers. It is incredible an entire office can be off until 30 August.

Will the Minister intervene to ensure the children in question have school places for the end of August, not the end of September?

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