Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

That is exactly the difficulty here. The policy here is that the child who is born in this community cannot go to school where their parents went to school and where their brothers and sisters are going to school. They have to go in a different direction. The Minister of State, commended the management, and rightly so, on their willingness to open an ASD classroom. They have the classroom. There is no need for an additional one. They have the outside yard space and a dedicated toilet for an ASD class. They have all those facilities in the centre of the school and there is easy access to the sensory areas and the sensory garden. I have been there and seen it. There is no need for capital works or capital expenditure.

I look at this from the point of view of rights. These children have a right to go to the local school. It is not one child in this case. There are three who want to go to this school who have been diagnosed, while others in the school are awaiting diagnosis. There is demand in the local area. Surely to God this can happen when we have willingness, a classroom, a sensory garden, a sensory room and toilet already in place. All we need is approval and a staff member to allow kids with autism to be taught with their siblings in their local community.

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