Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this matter for debate. I acknowledge the presence of the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne. I also acknowledge the excellent work done by the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, in the area of special education and inclusion. It is a very important that the Government has established this area within the Department. I also thank the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, for her recent visits to County Mayo and for her engagement with key stakeholders in the area of special education and inclusion.

The issue I am raising is a serious one that is causing much distress to pupils, parents, teachers and school principals in Castlebar. There is a shortage of places to enrol children in special schools. In recent weeks, I have received numerous representations from special education schools to the effect that are facing real challenges as we enter the final school term before the summer break, with preparations now being made for enrolments for the 2023-24 academic year.

The first problem is the lack of forecasting of future enrolments at local level by the National Council for Special Education, NCSE. While I support and welcome the appointment of the new NCSE director, the issue of forecasting has manifested as a serious problem. The lack of forecasting relating to placements for children by the NCSE means that schools are being left to resolve problems themselves, which is completely unacceptable. The Department's geographical information management system includes real-time data on capacity throughout the school system. It is the NCSE that should be managing this.

In recent weeks, one special education school in Castlebar had 15 inquiries for enrolment next September. The principal has informed me that the majority, if not all, of these queries have been made by parents whose children in all likelihood fit the moderate to severe general learning disabilities for which the school caters. All of these queries have been made directly to the school by parents since February. This is complete madness and parents should not be engaging directly. This is the job of the NCSE and the special education needs organisers. They should be co-ordinating this forecasting exercise to ensure we have a coherent and comprehensive overview of special class enrolment.

I have spoken to the principal of St. Brid's Special National School in Castlebar. It is in a desperate situation to ensure it has capacity in the system to accommodate pupils. The Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, has visited the school and knows the conditions in which the staff are working. Unless it is offered additional accommodation, which is not forthcoming, the school will not be in a position to offer even one of these 15 children a place. This is outrageous.

Another special school, St. Anthony's School, has been allocated an additional teacher by the NCSE to cater for the needs of the pupils in the school at present. The NCSE has confirmed that this teacher will continue to be needed in September to allow the school to enrol children with special needs who have applied for school places for the 2023-24 academic year. It has run out of classroom space to accommodate the extra teacher. The school is interviewing prospective teachers for the post, but it has been left without a classroom. We need to escalate dealing with this issue, particularly with regard to Castlebar in County Mayo, to ensure that these pupils are not left behind. We are all aware of them. They are part of the children's disability network teams. The have already been assessed for special needs. I ask for a focus on these two schools in particular and that we get a resolution to the problems.

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