Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I was going to raise the McCabe saga today, but there are so many other important issues and I will raise one of them. I raise the serious situation of the State once again failing children with disabilities. Today I will not speak about hospital waiting lists, Tusla, the children's hospital or any of the many other failures for those with disabilities, but about a child's constitutional right to education. In Clonmel today, parents of at least 11 young children with autism do not have a school to send their child to in September. This number is the minimum number and refers to a group of children that will leave an excellent autism spectrum disorder, ASD, unit in St. Mary's School in Irishtown in Clonmel that was set up by former principal, Mr. Gerry Ryan. These children have nowhere to go and this number does not include the many other children who have been recently diagnosed with autism and are struggling in mainstream schools with insufficient supports. They also require the support of an ASD unit. Currently Clonmel, the largest inland town in the country, has no ASD unit at primary level, so these five year olds, who are legally obliged to attend school, have nowhere to go in September. This is not just an issue for Clonmel. It is an issue for children in Carrick-on-Suir, Tipperary town, Clogheen and Fethard. For that matter, it is an issue for children throughout the country. We are at a crisis point and the State and the Department of Education and Skills have no concrete plans to ensure that these children will have access to education come September.

Last week I met, together with a group of concerned parents, two special educational needs officers, SENOs, from the National Council for Special Education, NCSE. They admitted that we are at crisis point and that their hands are tied. They cannot force schools to open a unit, yet currently no primary school in Clonmel is willing or able, for a variety of reasons, to open an ASD unit and people cannot get a school placement. The reality is that it could be 30 km away if they can get one as many of the excellent units in surrounding areas are already full to capacity and have huge waiting lists.

In response to a parliamentary question tabled this week, the Minister for Education and Skills informed me that he had no plans to change the situation to require schools by legislation to open an ASD unit where a need is identified and that he hoped schools would open such units voluntarily. Schools are doing their best, but they will not do that, so we will have to change the legislation. I hate the word "coerce" but we have to try a carrot and a stick. The situation in Clonmel and many other areas is that schools are not planning to open any units for a variety of reasons. We hear so much from Government about changing the ethos of schools, as if it is the only issue surrounding children getting access to education, yet it continues to ignore the most serious issues, where children with special needs are being discriminated against because they cannot access education, as is their right.

These children and parents do not have big organised lobby groups and the power of the media behind them. They have to fight for everything and are sick and tired of fighting the State for the services to which they are entitled and so badly need. These children are no different to those of the Taoiseach or to my children. What will the Government do to ensure that these students will have a place to attend this September, as required by law?

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