Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)

I move:

That Dáil Éireann: notes that:

— the right to education is a fundamental right for every child, as enshrined in the Irish Constitution and international conventions;

— despite two Dáil motions in 2025 calling for the provision of appropriate school places for every child with additional needs in their locality, the Government has rejected these calls;

— the Minister for Education has, to date, repeatedly declined to provide the exact number of children with additional needs still awaiting a school place for the 2025/2026 academic year, disaggregated by county and educational setting (primary/post-primary, special class/special school), despite a commitment to do so before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Youth;

— as of mid-June 2025, there were an estimated 260 children without any offer of an appropriate school place;

— the "Equality in Education" campaign has identified a further 168 children who have received an offer of a place but cannot take it up due to delays in essential building works, a situation which effectively denies them their education;

— numerous families have been forced to initiate legal proceedings to secure a basic school place for their child, a stressful and unnecessary course of action;

— these figures represent a significant undercount of the total number of children with additional needs without an appropriate school place, as they do not include:

— children with additional needs being home-schooled while awaiting an appropriate place;

— children undertaking excessively long and burdensome daily journeys to access education; and

— children placed in inappropriate settings (e.g., in mainstream classes awaiting a special class placement, or in special classes awaiting a special school place);

— the failure to invest, plan, and deliver adequate school infrastructure and supports has left many hundreds of children with additional needs without appropriate education;

— the comprehensive Report on the Review of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs (EPSEN) Act 2004 revealed profound dissatisfaction with support services, finding that 49 per cent of parents and 38 per cent of staff surveyed described their contact with the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) as "unhelpful" or "very unhelpful", while 41 per cent of parents and 46 per cent of staff reported similarly negative experiences with Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs);

— the widespread denial of essential Special Needs Assistant (SNA) support, through the effective imposition of a cap on numbers or a narrow reinterpretation of SNA duties, is causing severe hardship; and

— delays in clarifying SNA allocations to schools are creating unnecessary stress and anxiety for school leaders, parents, and children alike, destabilising the start of the school year;

condemns the Government for:

— its abject failure to strategically invest, plan, and deliver appropriate school places and supports for children with additional needs;

— effectively denying children access to education based solely on their additional needs, thereby violating their fundamental rights; and

— creating an environment where parents are forced to resort to legal action to vindicate their children's basic right to education; and

calls on the Government to:

— immediately publish the exact number of children with additional needs still awaiting a school place for the 2025/2026 academic year, broken down by county and educational setting (primary/post-primary, special class/special school);

— immediately publish the exact number of children with additional needs who have a formal offer of a school place but are prevented from taking it up due to delays in building works, broken down by county and educational setting;

— establish a time-bound School Building Delivery Task Force with the mandate to ensure the expeditious and priority delivery of special schools and special classes, this task force must include relevant technical and departmental expertise and incorporate continuous engagement with local school communities and parents;

— initiate an independent review of the role, function, and resourcing of the NCSE and SENOs to improve efficiency, transparency, and performance;

— commit to a significant investment in the recruitment and retention of SNAs and Special Education Teachers (SETs) to meet current and projected demand;

— review and reform the SNA and SET allocation model to ensure it is needs-based, transparent, and timely, and to ensure the voice of the child, their parents/guardians, and school leaders is central in the decision-making process; and

— publish and implement a costed, medium-to-long-term strategic plan to guarantee that every child with additional needs has equal access to appropriate education within their own community, ending the crisis-driven approach of many long years.

I welcome the opportunity to introduce this motion on an issue of profound urgency and fundamental justice, namely, the ongoing and shameful denial of appropriate education to children with additional needs in this State. The right to education is a fundamental right for every child, as enshrined in our Constitution and in international conventions, yet this Government has systematically failed to uphold this right. I welcome affected parents from the Equality in Education campaign, among others, to the Visitors Gallery. They are most welcome. In truth, I am sorry they have to be here.

Despite two separate Dáil motions earlier this year calling for the provision of appropriate school places, the Government rejected these calls. The Minister for education has repeatedly declined to provide this House with the exact number of children still awaiting a place for September, despite a clear commitment to do so. I hope the senior Minister joins us for this really important debate. This refusal is an insult to this Parliament and, more importantly, to the parents and families. As of mid-June, an estimated 260 children had no offer of any school place. This number is likely to have decreased significantly by now. The Minister of State should clarify this but, as always, the devil is in the detail. This is not about offers. It is about physical school places with the necessary supports and resources. The Equality in Education campaign has identified at least 168 children who have an offer but who cannot take it up due to delays in essential building works or school transport. It is an offer on paper that is, in fact, a cruel illusion in reality. Is uafásach é sin.

Numerous families, exhausted and abandoned by the State, have been forced to initiate legal proceedings to secure a basic school place for their child, a stressful and arduous course of action that should be unimaginable in any republic. These figures are a significant undercount. They do not include children being homeschooled while awaiting a place, children undertaking excessively long and burdensome daily journeys or children placed in settings that are inappropriate, such as in mainstream while waiting for a special class or in a special class while waiting for a special school.

This failure to invest, plan and deliver has left hundreds of children behind. It is compounded by a support system in crisis. The recent EPSEN Act review revealed profound dissatisfaction, with nearly half of parents describing their contact with the NCSE as unhelpful or very unhelpful. The widespread denial of essential SNA support through what amounts to an undeclared cap is causing severe hardships. Delays in clarifying SNA and SET allocations are destabilising schools and causing untold anxiety. We condemn the effective denial of education based solely on a child's additional needs, which is a clear violation of their fundamental rights. We condemn the creation of an environment where parents are forced to resort to the immense stress and financial burden of legal action simply to vindicate their children's basic right to education.

Our call to action is clear. We demand immediate transparency and call on the Department to publish the exact number of children awaiting a place and those blocked by building and school transport delays, disaggregated by county and setting. We demand immediate delivery and the establishment of a time-bound task force to fast-track building projects. We demand systemic reform and an independent review of the NCSE and SENOs to restore trust and efficiency. We demand investment and a commitment to recruit and retain SNAs and SETs with the reformed, needs-based allocation model that centres the voice of the child, parent and school leader. Crucially, we demand a lasting solution and the publication and implementation of a costed, medium- to long-term strategic plan with multi-annual funding to finally guarantee that every child with additional needs has equal access to appropriate education within their own community.

The time for deflection and excuses is over. The time for action is now. I commend this motion to the House.

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