Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)

There are some positive points in the review, in that children who were appropriately placed felt included and that their needs were being met. It shows that if the resources were put in, many other children and teenagers could feel that. Unfortunately, I have to emphasise the problems. In the review, 60% of parents had experienced difficulty finding a place in an appropriate setting despite the fact that more than 50% of parents had identified the needs of their children before they went in. Some 26% of parents experienced difficulty finding a school place at all. I imagine the percentage is a lot higher in Dublin and other urban areas, based on the figures we have heard at the education committee.

I need to ask again what we asked the Minister of State at the committee last week: how many children do not have a place? The schools are now closed. The Minister said in a previous meeting that 3,275 were notified to the NCSE as needing a school place for September 2025 and 8% remained without a place. Therefore, we take it that there are 260 children who do not have a school place. That is a real failure. It is far too high. We had a task force. We had protests and all sorts of thing in my area and many other areas last year. Every day, the Minister of State's Department is blocking parents in court who are taking cases over their children's legal right under this Act to a proper assessment and proper education.

I will mention Ms Charlotte Cahill, who will attend the committee tomorrow. She received 60 school refusals for her daughter before she found a school place. She was one of the heroic parents who slept outside here. Thankfully, her child has a school place, but she continues to battle for others. There has to be investment in this.

There is a real problem finding teachers. I was shocked that the Minister of State said there was no teacher shortage. We have to call the Government out on this. It is gaslighting to say that. We know there is a teacher shortage. It has been said by all the unions. It is everywhere around the country, but particularly in urban areas, especially Dublin. The Minister of State needs to correct that because it feeds into the inability to find teachers for special education as well.

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