Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy for raising this matter. I always relish the opportunity to talk about special education, especially in the context of areas that need to be addressed. I will get into the specifics of the particular matter, but I want to speak about special education in general.

We have an extensive budget that has increased from €1.1 billion to €2.2 billion over the past number of years, in terms of special classes. The Deputy has asked about what I call special classes and some people call ASD units. There are now 2,148 special classes throughout the country, an increase of 386% since 2011. I want to show the Deputy the progress that has been made before getting into the detail of what he asked about.

Some 1,900 special classes are specifically dedicated to autism which, as we know, is growing exponentially not just in Ireland but internationally. The National Council for Special Education, NCSE, and the Department have worked extensively over the past two years to make sure that we have a streamlined approach. It is important that there is short, medium and long-term planning in order to take population demographics into account, as well as the percentage of school going children that will have an additional need, to ensure that capacity is in place for the future.

This year, 229 special classes opened, which will provide 1,800 additional special class places. From this September, 287 new special classes will come on stream, providing 1,700 places.

We will have a total of 2,400 next year. We are making significant progress all the time. We will have more than 19,000 special needs assistants by the end of this year, which is an increase of 81% since 2011. That is the general view. I do not want the Deputy to be under any illusion that we are not making progress. On this particular issue, in Tipperary, we have 95 special classes. Some 72 of those are for autism, 24 are attached to mainstream settings in south Tipperary, and 12 are at primary level, including two early intervention classes, and 12 are at post primary level. Four new special classes are being opened this year, with two at primary level and two at post primary. From September, there will be five new special classes, with four primary and one post primary. There are also eight autism special classes in the bordering counties, with six primary and two post primary classes in Kilkenny and Waterford, which border Carrick-on-Suir. They are within a 20 km radius of the town.

I will talk about the Gaelscoil etc. when I come back in a second time if I do not get to finish it now. Education is a right under the Constitution. We endeavour to provide that education to all of our children, especially children with additional needs. It is not always possible to provide special classes, special schools or indeed a mainstream class within a particular area, but we endeavour to do so. The Department made site visits to many primary schools in Carrick-on-Suir. We were told that no space was available in those primary schools. The Deputy mentioned Portlaw National School and Carrigeen National School. I understand that they have six places each. They are in the catchment area for Carrick-on-Suir and Waterford.

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