Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for her response because it is the first time we have a real metric and set of figures in respect of north Cork, which is to be welcomed. I appreciate and acknowledge that a new special school will be allocated for Carrigtwohill. I am not striving for perfection here but I have a slight worry. We seem to accept the fact that children have to travel long distances to get to school of a morning when they are trying to access a special school. I reiterate my call for consideration to be given to north Cork specifically because the demand for places in Charleville is unsustainable and we cannot continue to heap more pressure on Charleville. If you have students who would ordinarily go to Charleville now having to go to some place like Carrigtwohill or Cork, it is still not ideal. Again, I am not looking for perfection but we are looking for better provision if we can have it.

I appreciate the fact that 15 of the new classes sanctioned for the coming year will be in the north Cork region. We will see how that works through and I will continue to liaise with parents. I am hopeful that if parents continue to contact me about the lack of school places coming up to the summer break and if there continues to be uncertainty about school places for September, then we will know that those numbers are not working. I appreciate the Minister of State's reply and I accept that there is action on the part of the Government and the Department to sanction more places. That has to be acknowledged and we will see how that works out.

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