Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Today is Karen O'Flaherty's tenth birthday. Karen is autistic and she has dyspraxia and EBD. She and her family moved from Navan to Moyvane in north Kerry during Covid, where she attends Murhur national school. Karen is eligible for place in a special class but at present is in classes with students from other years, including her sister Ellie May. She feels frustrated with the sensory overload. The school and her mother feel her needs would be best served in an ASD unit, a safe place within the school to allow her to receive the best education to which she is entitled. She would not be as burnt out in an ASD unit. Without it, it would be difficult for her to complete primary education but the school has not been sanctioned for one. If an ASD unit were granted, she may also not need the other therapies for which her parents pay €180 per week. Her school has an appropriate building and a vacant classroom. The principal, Finola Fogarty, wishes to establish a special class to cater for children in the area, and four other students, including siblings of current students, would use the unit in September. No other school in north-east Kerry has such a facility. Other schools in Kerry have a special class but the closest one is full. It does not make sense.

It does not make sense that local children have to travel long distances, even outside of the county, for an education that could be provided in a local school. It does not make sense that Karen should have to move schools when the NCSE states the primary objective of special education provision is to enable students with special needs to participate fully and to be included in all aspects of school life and to be provided with equal opportunities to achieve their potential, regardless of their background or abilities.

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