Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Heath, Deputy Butler, to respond to my query in respect of what I perceive to be the lack of special school places, and school places for children with additional needs in the north Cork area specifically. I raise this issue on the basis of the fact that parents have been in contact with me to say there is no certainty for their children in the north Cork area. I refer to the Mitchelstown and Fermoy areas specifically. While there is a willingness on the part of schools to accept children, the capacity is not there and some schools have told me that were the capital investment made to facilitate it, they would gladly take on additional students. Similarly, I find that I am increasingly being contacted by parents regarding access to special schools for children with intellectual disabilities specifically, where more people in north Cork have to go to Cork city to access education. It is a lot to ask parents from north Cork to send their children to some place like, for instance, Rochestown, and have to go through the Jack Lynch tunnel on a daily basis.

Could the possibility of a capital allocation for a site-specific special school for north Cork be considered? Allied to that, perhaps there could be a review or deeper look whereby the Department of Education might review the current allocation of places in autism spectrum disorder, ASD, units in the north Cork area to see if increased capacity could be created for children where there is a demand.

While I have a little time, I will raise an issue regarding the allocation of places. I am sure the Minister of State will tell me the National Council for Special Education, NCSE has responsibility for this area. I recognise that and that the special education and needs organisations, SENOs, are active on the ground, liaising with principals and looking at demand. I know that and respect that fact. However, in Cork, as I understand it, there are only seven SENOs and there are vacant posts there as well. That is having a knock-on relationship regarding that relationship with the SENO. Fewer SENOs must now cover more ground and that is having a bearing and impact on the ability of services to be rolled out. That needs to be addressed. If there are vacancies there, those vacant posts need to be filled and we need to ensure that greater capital expenditure is provided for more places in ASD units. In essence, this is what I am asking for, as well as consideration being given to the prospect of a special school specifically for the north Cork area. This would be in addition to the one in Charleville, where the waiting lists, as we know, are quite long.

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