Mark Wall (Kildare South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I wish the Minister and Minister of State well in their new briefs. I thank Sinn Féin for tabling this important motion.

The lack of special school places in my area, Kildare South, continues to grow. Not a week goes by when I do not get contacted time and again by worried parents who simply cannot find a place for their loved ones. It was in late 2023 that the then Minister of State, Josepha Madigan, announced that four new special schools would be established the following September, in Limerick, Meath, Wexford and South Kildare. When I questioned her in the Seanad at the time, she said the announcement was in response to increasing number of students with learning needs. The announcement was that the new schools would cater for approximately 120 young children with autism and complex learning needs, initially up to 18 years of age, and gradually increase the numbers over the following years. The announcement was greeted with much joy by many parents in Kildare South and, indeed, the other counties I mentioned.

We all expected the school to be located in Kildare South but it was actually opened in Kildare North, in Naas, leaving the families in Kildare South without a school once again. I am pleased to learn the school is up and running and doing very well. I wish the staff there very well, but it is already full and we still do not have a special school in Kildare South.

That brings me to the biggest problem, namely the crisscrossing that must be done by families and their loved ones. This has been mentioned here before in colleagues' speeches. I am aware of people who travel from Dublin to Kilkenny and South Kildare and people who travel from Kilkenny and South Kildare to Dublin. It takes two or three hours in a bus. Since it takes such a long time, the young person is barely awake when he or she comes home.

I welcome the common application process that the Minister mentioned. I brought this up with the previous Minister for Education because I believe SENOs need to be doing more. They need to be helping the affected families. I am aware of a family who have rung 47 different schools. I have spoken to the family and know what they are going through, including the stress.

I was recently told by a principal in Newbridge, which in my area, that the average waiting list for a special school place has 32 families. This means 32 families waiting on a space for their loved ones. Progress just cannot happen quick enough for them. Imagine the stress they are going through. We need to do more.

I congratulate the teachers who work in this space. They go above and beyond. I refer in particular to the SNAs, who do a tremendous job day in, day out. The relationships they form with the children who need special education are to be welcomed and celebrated. More needs to be done for the SNAs, given the job they do day in, day out.

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