Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Cheann Comhairle agus leis an Aire Stáit as ucht glacadh leis an saincheist inniu. I also thank the office for facilitating the change for me. I know the work that goes into those procedures so I appreciate that. Ba mhaith liom comhghairdeas a ghabháil leis an Aire Stáit as an bpost nua freisin. Ar a laghad do ghlac sé leis an bpost nuair a dhiúltaigh Fine Gael dó. I am not sure what the Irish for stepping into the breach is but maith thú.

As I hope you know, there has been much talk and expectation of a second autism class opening in Scoil Mhuire secondary school in Clane. Parents have been told that the funds and staff have been approved and that all is needed now is the modular building. There is a serious need for this building, with parents hunting for places for their autistic children right up to the borders of the county of Kildare, and they are told to do that. They are told to hunt for spaces to the borders of the county and beyond, indeed. That is after they spend years on waiting lists for assessment of needs. They just feel like they are waiting, waiting and waiting. It is all interconnected. We need more joined-up thinking so that autistic children and their families do not spend their lives waiting for things that are theirs by right as citizens of our State. Despite all of this, in Clane, the delay and, just as worrying, the departmental silence continue. There is departmental silence to the school, parents and to the National Council for Special Education. Parents are disgusted, really angry and disbelieving. They feel invisible and that their children are invisible, as though they are screaming into the official void. Although they are interviewed in the papers and on the radio and the whole community hears them, they feel the Department of Education is not listening. They are not numbers, they are people, boys and girls and their families, their mothers and fathers. It cannot be a question of money so it has to be, and it feels to them like it is, a question of priority. As for a modular build in this school for these autistic children in north Kildare, they feel they are not a governmental priority.

This is in the context of a major problem in north Kildare with a lack of school places generally. St. Farnan's in Prosperous is also looking for extra space. Maynooth got two new school buildings and one brand-new school, which are already at capacity. It is hard to believe that in north Kildare, with Intel up the road powering half the computers of the world, we have kids who should be in their first year of school relying on home tuition that is completely insufficient. They get six or nine hours a week. In one case, a child is deeply unhappy at boarding school because there is no place at all locally. We have the Convent of Mercy school in Naas, which just got the go-ahead for the finishing of its interior. This comes after years of having a brand new school that was not fitted out. It got the letter of intent this morning and is pleased about that, to give credit where it is due.

People do not believe their child has no school place until it happens to them. They just expect that the Department will know that the figures are there and that it has the information when the children are born. They have the children's allowance and expect that the school places will be there. Even grandparents are saying to me that it is incredible in this day and age that there are no school places. They believe it is backwards we are going. One lovely boy who desperately needs his place in that modular classroom is named Alex. His mother is his champion. She has to be because the Government is ignoring him. It is a really simple issue, easy to do and easy to resolve. Will the Minister of State please tell me whether the new modular building will be ready for September? Will autistic students relying on and needing this have their dedicated place?

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