Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I pay tribute to both Ministers of State, Deputies Madigan and Rabbitte, as well as to their teams for their commitment to the disability sector throughout the pandemic. I also want to place on record my admiration for the staff and management in the disability sector who put service users front and centre throughout what has been a national crisis. This year, just under 25% of the total education budget will be invested in supporting children with special needs education. While it is hugely welcome, I contend it is money well spent and certainly a budget that we need to see scaled over the coming years.

Regarding special education support services and the Phoenix Centre in Longford town, I am anxious we return to full staffing levels there as soon as possible. It is an issue which has dogged the service in recent years. Many of the staff continued to provide support services to children throughout the pandemic, even though they were transferred over to Covid testing duties. That reflects their commitment to the service. It is vital the service is fully staffed and we double down on our commitment to the most vulnerable and those who have probably paid the heaviest price throughout Covid.

I am pleased work has continued on the new special education primary school at St. Christopher's in Longford town throughout Covid. Thankfully, it will open in September. The new school will include two new classrooms and will take the total student population to 36. There is a new autism class and also a class for young children with severe to profound special needs. All the children in these two classes will have significant care needs across the sensory, medical and physical spectrum. Of the 12 students, nine will come to the school with a recommendation for SNA support.

As it stands, however, the two classes are classified as per the special needs unit in our local schools. In terms of staffing, therefore, that will be one teacher and two SNAs. In total for the two classes, that will be two teachers and four SNAs. Needless to say, school management and the principal, Sheila Dinnegan, are in constant contact with their special educational needs organiser, SENO. The indications are that they may well get an additional SNA for each of the two classrooms. However, they will be still short a further three SNAs to provide an adequate service.

In the case of the class for children with severe to profound needs, four of the children are wheelchair users, two are flight risk and all will necessitate full-time SNA support. The fact that the allocation of SNAs for their classes is the same for special units in our local schools fails to take account of this school's unique and challenging profiles. Many of the pupils who will attend are ASD and also have profound intellectual disabilities. Two of the pupils are PEG-fed with no head or body movement control, while two pupils have an epilepsy diagnosis, one with severe epilepsy.

It will be a proud day for County Longford when the new school opens in September. The people of Longford take a great pride in St. Christopher's. They also take a personal and passionate interest in its future and the well-being of its much loved pupils and service users. God willing, the Ministers will be able to visit the Holy Land for the school's official opening later this year. This new build is an outstanding investment in special education. It certainly sets the bar in terms of the Government's commitment to special education. I have contacted the offices of the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, and the Minister, Deputy Foley, earlier on this issue. Will the Minister of State ensure that a state-of-the-art special needs education centre is given the staffing level it requires to ensure the best possible start in life for these 36 wonderful young people?

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