Anthony Lawlor (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak. I have submitted this matter several times over about five weeks, but it seems that when the House is due to close down for a week one has a better chance of being selected. The Minister is not here, but I will welcome the reply of the Minister for Health, Deputy Varadkar.

I am speaking on behalf of parents in north-west Kildare, but this is a national issue. We have made tremendous strides in the primary school sector, and there are units for pupils with autism spectrum disorder, ASD, in virtually every school in the country. Any new schools being developed will have an ASD unit. While we planned well at that level, we have not planned for post-primary level. The parents of many children who finish primary school would love to see them attend mainstream secondary schools, but they might not be suitable. There are few ASD units in post-primary schools. A number of parents in north-west Kildare contacted me. At least three children there are finishing primary school and cannot access the local secondary school. They have been offered places in Portarlington, which is 65 km away. Asking children with ASD to travel for an hour and a half each way and adding three hours onto their school day is not acceptable for any child, especially those with special needs. The arrangement is also costly; parents have said it will cost the Department in the region of €95,000 per year per child, including the cost of a bus escort. That is simply not a sustainable solution in view of the fact that such money would go a long way towards building additional ASD classes in the area. There has to be some alternative solution.

The local feeder school in Edenderry, Oaklands Community College, currently has one class with six students attending. There is no room to take in another class, and to date up to ten families have looked for places for September 2015. Clearly, it would make much more sense to put the money into building an extension to this school which would include additional ASD classes to meet the future needs of the area. The principal of the school and the parish priest support the building of an extension to provide the much-needed classrooms. The NCSE said it does not want to put too many children with ASD into the one area, which was the reason for not pushing for a unit in Oaklands. However, there are 12 ASD primary classes within a seven-mile radius of Edenderry and these children must be provided for at post-primary level.

The Minister may wonder why I referred to Edenderry, which is in County Offaly, but it caters for post-primary education for the whole of north-west Kildare. There are currently up to 50 children attending primary ASD classes within a five-mile radius of Oaklands Community College in Edenderry who will need post-primary places in the near future. One would hope that many of those children would go into mainstream classes, but a number will need to go into ASD classes. Based on these figures, the Department needs to act now.

As I said, this is an issue affecting not just north-west Kildare but the rest of the country. The Department has planned for primary level but not post-primary level. It is important that we plan for the future of those children who are leaving primary school.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I am taking this debate on behalf on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan. I thank the Deputy for raising this issue as it gives the Government an opportunity to outline the process of monitoring demand for school placements for children with special needs, including those with autism, and providing placements accordingly.

The Deputy is aware that this Government is committed to ensuring that all children with special educational needs, including those with autism, can have access to an education appropriate to their needs, preferably in school settings through primary and post-primary school networks. Such placements facilitate access to individualised education programmes which may draw from a range of appropriate educational interventions, delivered by fully qualified professional teachers, with the support of special needs assistants and the appropriate school curriculum.

Young people with autism transitioning from primary school placements have a number of alternative options, including mainstream placement in post-primary school with support, placement in a special class in a mainstream school or placement in a special class in a special school. The Deputy will also be aware that the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, is responsible, through its network of local special educational needs organisers, SENOs, for allocating resource teachers and special needs assistants to schools to support students with special educational needs, including autism. It is also the role of the NCSE to make appropriate arrangements to establish special classes in schools in various geographical areas as required.

SENOs engage with schools annually in order to plan for and to open new special classes each year in order to ensure there are sufficient special class placements available at primary and post-primary school level to meet demand in a given area. Special classes within mainstream schools are intended for children who, by virtue of their level of special educational needs, cannot reasonably be educated in a mainstream class setting but who can still attend their local school in a special class with a lower pupil-teacher ratio and special needs assistant support. The total number of special classes for children with autism in mainstream schools throughout the country at the end of 2014 was 626, of which 152 were in post-primary schools.

The NCSE has advised the Department of Education and Skills that it is currently planning, through its local network of SENOs, for a number of new special classes for the coming school year. SENOs have been working with local schools on a national basis over the past number of months to plan and establish special classes for children with special educational needs who require such placements for 2015 and 2016. This work is ongoing in some counties and SENOs continue to liaise and work with schools in order to meet the demand for such placements at local level.

Anthony Lawlor (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I welcome the reply and there is a little bit of positivity in it. I hope SENOs will be given much more authority in future planning for post-primary school placements for some of these kids. There are 626 special classes but only 152 are in the post-primary setting, so sometimes the numbers do not add up. I have highlighted a case where kids will potentially be travelling 65 km. Even if somebody is going to a university or third level school in Dublin, one would not travel from Roscrea every day. That is akin to what we are discussing, with some kids having to travel from south Kildare to Dublin city on a daily basis. That does not seem fair at all.

We have put in place an excellent service at primary level but we have not thought through the whole process. I understand there is a variety of post-primary options but many parents want to see their kids at least attend post-primary education. There are certain schools willing to cater for such students and they want to expand to allow more kids to attend. They are being held by the Department not allocating funding for classrooms to be built. I will continue to press with the Minister that we must continue to plan for the future in this regard. There is no point in us doing a half-assed job when we must fully examine where the kids coming from these primary schools will end up.

We should consider the issue on a long-term basis and the benefits will be felt throughout the whole of society. There is always potential for a kid with autism to develop in a different manner than prescribed. I welcome the Minister's comments but I will continue to press the issue, particularly in Edenderry, which has so many primary school kids coming out on the autism spectrum disorder. The area does not have the facilities to cater for these kids who want to attend post-primary school.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Lawlor for raising this important issue and I know he takes a great deal of interest in the matter. I will certainly inform the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy O'Sullivan, of today's debate.