Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I very much welcome the efforts of the board of management of the school, the principal and the teaching staff who are willing to open a special class. The resources we have are for 350 special classes to be opened. This year alone, we have opened 384 special classes. There are 3,000 of these classes around the country which will have to be adequately resourced in order to provide those appropriate placements for the children who desperately need them.

The Deputy mentioned three local families who are looking to enroll their children in a special class in this particular school. I wonder if they have sought a place in the other school. I know it is 10 km away. From my perspective as Minister of State with responsibility for special education, the first thing we have to do is provide an appropriate placement. The second task is to provide one in the child's actual locality, exactly where they live. That is quite a difficult task. The National Council for Special Education tells me that it will not open a special class where places have not been filled in a school in the vicinity. That is the difficulty here. However, we will assess and monitor the situation on an ongoing basis.

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