Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am sure the Taoiseach shares my view that all children in need of ASD special classes should be able to attend their local school, yet that is not the case despite many years of campaigning by parents. The provision of ASD education supports to children is patchy right across the State at best, with many parts, in particular in the capital city with little or no provision. Our party leader has recently been out meeting parents in south Dublin where certain areas have become a no-go zone for children with ASD to attend, as a result of the lack of provision elsewhere in the city. There is a particular lack of ASD units in Dublin 2, 4, 6 and 6W, with only one school adequately equipped to deliver equality in education for children with ASD, and only at primary level. It is not the case that other areas have too many spaces but there has been a failure by consecutive Governments to deliver on local ASD services for children.

One primary school with early intervention and an ASD unit provides the bulk of educational need for children in south-east Dublin. Parents in that area are left with no option but to enrol their children in schools outside their communities or areas, often on the other side of the city, to enable their children access an education that meets their needs. The families we have been in contact with recently have discovered that the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, does not have accurate data and it does not know that some children have ASD in the first instance. As a result, it cannot plan for the needs of the area. That is a very important issue which is replicated right across the State. After an audit of the Dublin south area, the NCSE has only sought to compel two schools in Dublin 4, 6 and 6W, which have both said they are not in a position to set up a class or unit due to space concerns, yet other schools identified in the audit said they would be interested in providing a class, if they had the space but no space has been provided. The process of ensuring local access to appropriate education needs to be reviewed and schools that wish to set up ASD classes and units should be supported to do so. Those who do not comply with the requirements must be made to do so and adequately resourced and trained, as recommended by the NCSE, because every child deserves to go to his or her local school and every family should be supported to that end, but it is clearly not happening in many areas right across the State.

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