Margaret Murphy O'Mahony (Cork South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank my colleague, Deputy Thomas Byrne, for bringing this motion before the House. I commend him on his Trojan work in the education field. I want to praise the fantastic work of NEPS in promoting the social, emotional and education skills of pupils across the country. It is disappointing and maddening to see that the service is so understaffed. That 95,543 primary and post-primary pupils across 397 schools are without access to an assigned NEPS psychologist is a very serious issue. As a result of staffing issues, it is now normal for it to take over a year for students to be assessed for special educational needs, thereby delaying the putting in place of resource teaching and learning support structures.

I agree with the establishment of autism spectrum disorder, ASD, classes at post-primary level. There are 548 ASD classes at primary level but just 237 such classes at post-primary level. As a consequence, many pupils who have enjoyed the security of a specific ASD class in national school suddenly find themselves with nowhere to go in secondary school. There is also an exceptional shortage of preschool ASD classes. The lack of ASD classes in general is preventing many children from reaching their full potential. I urge Deputies to support the motion before the House.

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