Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is filling for the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan. The reality for St. Brid's Special School and St. Anthony's School is that there is no alternative placement for many of these children in Castlebar. It is a scary thought that up to 14 or 15 extremely vulnerable children could be left without secure school placements for the 2023-2024 school year.

Recently, the Ombudsman for Children, Dr. Niall Muldoon, said that the planning and resourcing of special education needs to catch up with the forecasting after a report by his office highlighted the serious shortcomings throughout the country. This is evident in what I am presenting this morning. One figure of concern that Dr. Muldoon discussed is the number of children with special educational need who are in the wrong placements, such as those in special classes who need to be in special schools or children who are in mainstream classes but who need to be in special classes. Some parents may simply have taken what was offered rather than what was needed.

The Minister of State referred to funding. I welcome the Department's commitment to 25% of the total budget being spent on special education but I believe we need to act a lot more swiftly with regard to the actual placements. St. Brid's cannot wait any longer for this additional accommodation. It needs to be sanctioned with speed. I am aware that the Department of Education's building and planning unit has engaged with the principal, but September is just around the corner. For the good of St. Brid's and St. Anthony's, I ask the Minister of State to revert to the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, and the Department officials to get a commitment that this additional accommodation will be sanctioned. We need to provide these specialist supports and services for students and ensure that we have effective solutions. These should be implemented with speed and efficiency. This accommodation is crucially important to ensure that these children have a bright future, that their parents are supported and that they have adequate education provision into the years ahead.

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