Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for her commitment to invoke section 37 if required. While the National Council for Special Education has told the Minister of State that it is confident it will meet the needs, it has not told the parents that. The parents I have spoken to, the parents Claire Earley has spoken to and the parents Senator Carrigy has spoken to have been offered places either in Longford town or in Glenamaddy in north-east Galway. They are local parents in Athlone but that is what they have been offered.

Although this is outside the Minister of State's remit, the reality is the Department had 93 months to get this right but we are now three months away from those children going into second level and it has not got it right to date. We are one month away from those children leaving primary school and they have not got any indication that they will be provided with a service in their own local catchment along with their brothers and sisters, their neighbours and their classmates.

At present, there are just three primary schools and one second level school providing autism-specific classes in the wider Athlone area, which is insufficient to meet the current needs. This must be urgently addressed. The primary schools with autism spectrum disorder classes are St. Paul’s in Lyster Street, St. Joseph’s in Summerhill on the Connacht side of the town and at Coosan on the Leinster side of the town. At second level, we have just one school, Coláiste Chiaráin in Summerhill, that has autism-specific classes. There are 57 primary school pupils in local autism classes in Athlone, Ballinasloe and south Roscommon, and despite the demand for more places, no new classes are being planned for this September. As I said, the situation at second level is even more stark, with just 23 students with autism being accommodated at present between the schools in Athlone and Ballinasloe, and children facing a 100 km daily return trip. That is unacceptable.

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