Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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23. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide an update on the progress being made to open a second autism unit class at a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23650/24]

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Does the Minister have an answer for this one? It is one of these strange questions where I can probably answer the question myself to some degree.

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I actually do have a reply.

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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The issue with the autism unit at De La Salle is that it was operating out of a classroom made available by a teacher, which then had to be returned to them. There is a plan for a building that would deal with two units. The issue was that a modular unit is going in that will only fit one class, but a huge amount of work has been done by the principal and the NCSE. I got good news last Friday, so I am hoping this will just be reaffirmation of that in the sense that resources will be provided by the Department. They will be able to look after these two classes. The parents who were previously told they would not be looked after are now being told that their kids will be looked after. It is to make sure the resources are provided. Beyond that, the big one we need is for the school extension that is in train to actually happen. That would deal with this entire circumstance.

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I will tell the Deputy all that is available to me at present, but I will say that I will engage with him again if there is something missing. I will ask for a further update.

The school referred to by the Deputy was approved to enter the Department’s pipeline of school building projects under the additional school accommodation scheme. The project will provide a two-class special education base, two mainstream classrooms, and a technical graphics room. The project has been devolved for delivery to the school authority.

The school referred to already operates one special class and the Department recently granted approval to construction of a special educational needs modular classroom, which is expected to reach practical completion later this year. This additional accommodation will help alleviate the immediate enrolment pressures on the school pending the delivery of the larger additional school accommodation project, which provides a two-class special educational needs base.

The school appointed a design team to progress the larger traditional ASA project through the various stages of architectural design, planning, procurement and construction. The Department’s professional and technical officials recently reviewed the design team’s stage 2B post-planning approval architectural cost report and requested further information on that. Once that information has been submitted, the Department will complete its review of this stage of the project.

The provision of accommodation for children with special educational needs is at the heart of our priorities and is a core driver of investment plans. The National Council for Special Education has responsibility for planning and co-ordinating school supports for children with special educational needs. In recent years, the Department and the NCSE have introduced a number of strategic initiatives to plan for and provide sufficient special class and special school places. These initiatives are bearing fruit, with almost 1,700 new special classes sanctioned and seven new special schools established in recent years, and a further four opening in September. More than 320 new special classes have been sanctioned by the NCSE nationwide for the 2024-25 school year. Eleven of these 11 are in County Louth. This means there are now more than 3,000 special classes in our education system.

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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The important issue relates to the school building programme and ensuring that the planned extension will happen as soon as possible. Obviously, it would have been better if it had happened earlier, but it would be good to get a timeline for when we think it can be delivered. If it was in train, we would not have the issues we have been facing recently, whereby parents were told that there was no space in the school for a new autism unit for their children. In fairness and as already stated, major work was done by the principal, the SENO and the NCSE, although there are promises in respect of the Department providing resources and we need to make sure that happens. Nevertheless, they will be operating in probably suboptimal space, and we need to make sure the resources will be provided in the short term and that the building and all the associated necessary aspects will follow. While Friday was really positive, we need to make sure we deliver on sustainable positivity.

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Absolutely. I know that the Deputy has a particular interest in special education and has engaged with me a number of times on it. We are deeply committed in this area, and while we were coming from a low base, it is an achievement to say we now have 3,000 special classes in the scheme and we can see that, for example, of the new special classes that are in place, 11 are in County Louth. We have 11 new special schools in place and, alongside all that, we are committed to delivering additional accommodation to schools that require it, as I have outlined, where there will be a two-class special educational base, two mainstream classrooms and a technical graphics room. We are totally committed. A great deal of work has been done, but I am not for a moment suggesting that work has been completed. More work needs to be done. It is in everybody's best interest that where we set up a class, the appropriate resources will be put in place. We have always done that and we will ensure we have done that, and if the Deputy requires anything additional, I will engage with him on that.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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That concludes Question Time.

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Do we have no time left?

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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We have no time left, I am sorry to say, but we have covered the widest spectrum of questions during the course of the debate.