Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his question. As I mentioned earlier, enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education appropriate to their needs is a priority for this Government. Almost 20% of the education Vote, about €1.9 billion, is currently invested in supporting children with special needs.

Notwithstanding this investment, there are some parts of the country, especially Cork and south Dublin, which I discussed earlier, where increases in population and other issues have led to concerns regarding a shortage of school places for next September. The National Council for Special Education is interrogating this and exploring the available options. It has primary responsibility for co-ordinating and advising on special education provision for children nationwide. It has extensive engagement with schools, patrons, parents and others across south Dublin.

Normally special school places are found through the reasonable efforts and full co-operation of everybody involved. Sometimes, however, this does not happen and we must engage with the relevant legislation, that is, section 37A of the Education Act 1998, as amended. This is an absolute priority of mine. I know that Scoil Colm, to which the Deputy has referred, includes another special school, Scoil Eoin, which has 150 pupils. There is potential for an additional four classrooms there. According to my deliberations and the considerations we have taken into account, the school would still come up short. However, we are working through this. The NCSE and the Archdiocese of Dublin met yesterday. The Christian Brothers own the school, but the archdiocese is assisting us in that regard. Talks are ongoing.

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