Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for not naming the school, although I gave her the information - that would be unfair. I have raised the matter because I was talking to the parents of a young child who will go to secondary school next year.

The primary school he attends offers excellent services, but the secondary school they hope to enrol him in has, unfortunately, told them that it will not be able to take him, not because it cannot provide the resource hours but because it does not have a base room for children with autism. The school has a great reputation for dealing with children with autism, but because of a lack of resources, a growing population and the demand for places in post-primary mainstream schools for children with special educational needs, particularly autism, the need for base rooms in Cork is growing. If a school does not have room where pupils can have a timeout, it is reluctant to take such students. That is the current situation. Resource hours are not the issue; rather, the lack of rooms is preventing schools from taking the number of students they would like to take.

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