Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

There is a reference to the recruitment of front-line professionals on page 34 of the programme for Government. Will the Taoiseach give a commitment to look into the situation whereby the Hope Montessori autism spectrum disorder, ASD, preschool in Mountview in Dublin 15 is in danger of class closures in January, leaving children with autism with nowhere to go because the Teaching Council will not issue new teachers their numbers in time? All the paperwork was submitted in good order but quite incredibly it can take a year to register a teacher. In preschool Montessori ASD settings, teachers must be qualified primary teachers. We know we cannot recruit such teachers in Ireland, schools must source them abroad, paying thousands of euro to an agency to bring them from Spain. The school has the teachers in place for January but the Teaching Council has not given them their numbers and the class may close. This is really serious. The children need the help. In September the ASD school paid over €5,000 to a site to recruit these teachers. I have been contacted by parents who say the staff are ready, and I am sure the Taoiseach has been too. Will he pull the finger out and get this done or will these children be left stranded in January?

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