Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

On Monday evening, Deputies Jack Chambers, Coppinger and I attended a packed meeting of parents, professionals, education providers, the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, and public representatives in the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15, representing people from Dublin 15 and Dublin 7. The committee which called the meeting comprises a group of parents of children with autism and professionals who have worked with children with autism in the area for more than ten years.

The parents who called the meeting on Monday night in Blanchardstown are firmly of the view that an innovation is required in the form of an ASD special school for Dublin 15. Dublin 15 and the adjacent parts of Dublin 7 along the Navan Road have a population of approximately 120,000, which is considerably bigger than either Limerick or Waterford, but there is no special school for children with severe ASD. There are 32 primary schools and 11 secondary schools in Dublin 15, but at primary level there are only 18 ASD classes with approximately 108 students and only eight secondary school ASD classes with approximately 32 students. The parents firmly believe that a special school is required for a portion of children with ASD who have complex presentations of autism and who present with significant needs. The majority of children with moderate to severe autism are non-verbal, are unable to cope to mainstream classroom settings and do not benefit from integration. There was a unanimous opinion on that at the meeting of more than 150 people.

Will the Minister agree to meet representatives of the parents and the professionals at the meeting and the local Deputies to enable us to have a discussion about when we can get this urgently required school for children with ASD?

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