Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I raised the case in County Offaly of Shinrone National School but it is an issue that lots of schools could come across. Apparently, it is Department policy not to provide a door to the opening into a quiet space. This allows for active supervision of the quiet space from the SEN classroom. However, it is my understanding that there is a clear distinction between a quiet space and a sensory room; they are not the same thing. A sensory room is a dedicated room with a door and a school must demonstrate that this is a spare room within the school building in order to access the grant. According to the Department, "As part of the current programme we are not providing ‘Sensory Rooms’ this type of accommodation may be revisited next year as Phase II." I am quoting directly from a communication. It appears that people in the modular projects section, who decided that the quiet space should not have a door, do not communicate with those in the grants section, leading to a level of confusion. This probably needs to be ironed out.

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