Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

If education is a right, why is access seemingly always a fight for families? As the Minister knows because I wrote to her and because parents have been in touch with her, almost 20 families in Dungarvan, County Waterford, are left without a special school place. There is a wider issue across Waterford city and county when it comes to capacity in special education spaces in mainstream schools and special schools. The State is not just failing children and failing to vindicate the fundamental right of children to an education; it is also breaking constitutional promises. It is also discriminating against children because they have additional educational needs. Parents are forced to play bureaucratic roulette in some cases where names are picked out of a hat by a Garda superintendent, putting schools, members of An Garda Síochána and parents in terrible predicaments.

We need more than just announcements; we need delivery. September is barrelling down the road towards us at pace. Can we get additional capacity at St. John's in time for September and increased capacity across Waterford city and county?

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