Michael Lowry (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The educational needs of their children are taken very seriously by every parent, and particularly so when a child has additional needs. Across Tipperary and the country, numerous children are in their final year in autism units of primary schools. Secondary school enrolments are under way. Autism units in secondary schools should be structured to be capable of accepting all pupils who are making the transition up from primary schools. Parents want their autistic children to transfer to secondary schools that provide for their educational needs while incorporating the familiarity and security of the friends they have made in primary school. There is an abject failure by the State to provide sufficient places for autistic children when they graduate from primary to secondary schools.

The lack of spaces is a cause of considerable confusion and distress among these children and their parents. I ask the Government to recognise that the current system is failing autistic children. We need to fill this gaping gap in our secondary school system as a matter of urgency.

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