Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

FUSS Ireland was outside Leinster House again today. We are two weeks into the new school year and there are many children and young people with special needs and disabilities who do not have appropriate school places. In Cork South-West I have been working with families since this time last year who warned the Department and pleaded for the resources to ensure their children could exercise their right to education. One child with autism spectrum disorder, ASD, whose name is Charlie, has been moved between three primary schools. The special educational needs organiser, SENO, overruled the recommendation of the most recent school, and he was then placed in a special class at second level that is not suitable for his needs. Needless to say, he has regressed due to these circumstances. Even though an ASD unit is opening in the secondary school that is closest to him, it is already oversubscribed. His mum asked how it is possible that a post-primary unit is established, but even before it opens, it is oversubscribed. These children have been in primary education, in the system, for eight years. The numbers involved are surely relatively clear. Her son's case is not an isolated one but is symptomatic of an under-resourced and dysfunctional system failing children and families, a system that fails to do the most basic planning. What are we supposed to say to these parents when they come to us for help?

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