Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. It is useful to put on the record of the House that in the past ten years the number of special classes has increased from approximately 500 to 2,000. We now have almost 20,000 special needs assistants, which is not far off double the number we had ten years ago. New special schools have opened in Cork and Dublin this year. There has been a huge increase in resources and provision in this area. I acknowledge it is not enough. Many parents are worried about whether there will be a place for their child in September, including in my constituency. The Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, is committed to working on solutions. I am confident we will see results in the coming weeks.

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