Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There are a couple of things in play here. I acknowledge initially that approximately 20 children are impacted. They are already in situ in the school. Not all of them will require an ASD class. There are many who are pending assessments and so on. There is, however, still a requirement in this regard. As the Minister of State said in his response, three classes were allocated and this gives an idea of the demand there generally. We are up to 18 children, anyway, based on three classes being filled. The meeting is going to happen, but the most important thing for me is that a commitment was given to review the documentation sent back by the school and the board of management. All I ask is that this documentation is reviewed expeditiously. As the Ceann Comhairle highlighted, it was submitted in January 2024 and it is now four months later. I think four or five months is sufficient time for anybody in the building unit to make a decision one way or the other. I say this because parents and families will have to make big decisions if this development is not allowed to proceed. I think it is in everybody's best interests that it is treated with the utmost urgency and that we just get on and make a decision as expeditiously as possible.

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