Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

On Friday parents of children with additional needs were forced to sleep outside the Department of Education to try to fight for appropriate school places for their children. Earlier that day, the Government announced 254 new special classes in schools. That is much less than the 400 that had been promised. However, when you delve into the detail there are not even 254. I have correspondence with multiple schools saying these classes effectively do not exist. One school said they were in discussions with the NCSE about the establishment of a special class but as it stands, they had received no support to make it happen. They requested the announcements would not be made so that children would not be disappointed. They do not need spin – they need places. That means buildings, teachers and SNAs.

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