Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I met a number of the parents who were here last week. I know only full well the battle that all the families and parents are going through, not just from being a public representative but also from personal experience as well. I am fully aware of the challenges parents face daily with regard to special needs, particularly the battles around the country for special schools. I refer to a number of policies that were being spearheaded by the UN decades ago in relation to mainstreaming. There are children with acute needs who will need special schools. We need to ensure those places are developed, not just on temporary sites, but rather that they are available and developed on permanent sites that are in the centre of their communities. We need to make sure that children with special educational needs, whether they are in Castleblayney or any other part of the country, are in a central location and that we have proper facilities for them.

I will give a commitment that I will work as hard as is humanely possible for as long as I hold this role to make sure we have places available for children. In this instance, we will have 18 spaces available, but we will work over the next while to make sure there are more spaces throughout the country.

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