Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)

Today I want to raise issues in relation to special education needs in Wicklow. I am really concerned about children who have special education needs. I have been trying to raise this with the Minister of State and am really disappointed that he is not here today. I have been trying to talk to him on the floor of the Dáil for the past few weeks in relation to this issue. I am worried from a number of different perspectives but ultimately, there are three areas of concern.

First, the NCSE has set up a new system through which parents can get a letter of eligibility which they then use to get a special needs place in a school. The portal for that letter of eligibility closed on 1 October. That deadline was for children who need classes in 2026. We both know how difficult it can be to get the assessments done as well as the costs involved, the timelines and the waiting times. Therefore, there is a cohort of children who did not make that 1 October deadline. The NCSE's page on the portal says that the council will give guidance to those parents who did not make the deadline and that guidance would be available within a matter of weeks. That was on 1 October but the council still has not updated the page. I have asked the council and the Minister of State over and over what those parents and children are meant to do. It is not just an issue for Wicklow but across the country. I have been contacted by parents across the country whose children did not get their letters through the portal.

The second issue is that those parents who did get the letter of eligibility have not been able to secure a school place. They were told that this was the process they needed to go through and when they had done so, the supports would be there but they are not hearing anything at all about school places. Children who have special needs and their parents need not only to be sure of a place, they also need time so they can get their children ready for going to school. Any transition like this is very difficult for children with additional needs. The fact that parents still do not know whether their child will get a sanctioned place is completely unacceptable. The whole point of having this new online system was that it would take the uncertainty out of it for parents but that uncertainty is still there. I have spoken to principals who have yet to be told whether they will be sanctioned for classrooms for next September. Those principals need to get everything in place and they are not being told anything by the NCSE. I ask the Minister of State to pass this on to the NCSE and to the Minister of State with responsibility for special education needs. Parents need to be informed immediately. If there is a shortfall of places, those places need to be found somewhere. They need to sanction and open up new classrooms. It absolutely has to be done and they need to get on top of it now.

The other concern I have, which is really worrying, relates to what I have heard from medical professionals who do assessments for children. On multiple occasions when they did medical assessments and made recommendations, the SENO, who is not medically qualified, has refused to accept their recommendations. I was told of a child in Wicklow who is autistic, non-verbal and cannot toilet themselves but was deemed to be not complex enough to warrant a letter of eligibility. That information goes back to the parents and not to the medical professionals. I am wondering how many parents out there have been told "No" by the SENO when their medical professional has said "Yes". This is something that I am really worried about.

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