Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In six months since I was elected, I have received many emails, calls and texts from concerned parents in towns such as Kilcock, Celbridge, Leixlip, Maynooth and Naas who are struggling to find special education places for their children. This Government has promised to increase the number of special schools and special classes across the country. I acknowledge the work that has been done so far, with an extra 399 new special education classes for the upcoming academic year. However, my constituency of Kildare North will only benefit from nine of those places. Considering the major population increase we have had in north Kildare, will the Department of Education and Youth consider that a catch-up is required in constituencies such as mine and supply adequate numbers of special classes in the towns I mentioned in order to ensure every child has access to suitable education in their local community?

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