Liam Quaide (Cork East, Social Democrats)

I commend Sinn Féin on its motion. At the Committee on Disability Matters this morning, the Minister of State told us that the number of children without a special education placement for this school term was in single digits. It is fair to say there was some respectful scepticism among committee members about that claim. I raised with the Minister of State the fact that there is a world of difference between a school placement in a child's local community and a school placement that is a very long distance away from that child's home. We know many families are caught up in gruelling school commutes that add hugely to the challenges they face. The Minister of State's officials confirmed that no data is gathered by his Department on the journey times children educated outside of their own areas endure every day. If data on additional needs placements is to be meaningful, it must reflect the degree to which children's right to be educated in their community, where they live, is being upheld. In the Minister of State's responses to parliamentary questions on this subject, the terminology that comes up is "pathway to education".

It has been brought to my attention by the campaign group Families Unite for Services and Support, FUSS, that it has information on significant numbers of children who have been offered placements in schools for which no buildings yet exist. I have been informed that a school on the northside of Dublin recently notified families who had been offered places that, due to building delays, the predicted opening date for 12 special education places in two classes is being pushed out to 2026. It is reported that the options for those families are home tuition or a return to preschool.

The figures the Minister of State quotes need to reflect the realities on the ground in special education provision. As things stand, a single-digit figure for children without a school placement is a mirage covering over a huge depth of unmet need.

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