Liam Quaide (Cork East, Social Democrats)
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I congratulate the Leas-Cheann Comhairle on his appointment.

The lack of suitable school places for children with additional needs is critical for many families in my constituency of Cork East. There are 16 autism classes in five primary schools in or around the Youghal area. These are feeder schools for Youghal's only secondary school, Pobalscoil na Tríonóide, which has only three autism classes. This equates to 96 students in primary schools who will be seeking to avail of one of 18 secondary school places. Parents can be left in a deeply unsettling state of uncertainty in the lead up to a decision on their school placement applications for their children.

I spoke earlier about the draw that took place recently in St. John's Special School in Dungarvan, overseen by a Garda superintendent, after which 20 children from Cork, south Tipperary and Waterford were left without a school place. This means families have to transport their children long distances daily for their basic schooling. In my constituency, it means families having to face travelling into Cork city or potentially Waterford city to access education for their children. The stress of long school commutes, some of which are spent in traffic congestion, can take an immense and cumulative psychological toll on these children and their families. Attending school so far from home also disconnects children from their communities at a particularly sensitive stage of their development. This is entirely at odds with their interests and their rights and is heaping another form of chronic stress upon the many other challenges these families contend with.

A group of parents has come together to advocate for an additional autism class in Youghal. I ask for the Government's support to establish this special educational needs class in Youghal, which would be aimed at students known as "special educational needs betweeners", who are autistic children with mild learning disabilities. These students have educational needs that are too complex for mainstream classes but would not necessarily qualify for a special school placement. They are at risk of falling between the cracks of the mainstream and special school systems. The proposed class would help to address some of the educational gaps these students face while allowing them to attend school in their existing school community. The class would allow students to follow a differentiated curriculum and access additional supports, such as individualised education plans customised to meet each student's needs. The class would be integrated into the wider school community, ensuring social inclusion and helping to reduce the stigma that can often be associated with disabilities.

I mention the efforts of my TD and councillor colleagues in east Cork, who are also committed to this campaign. I am glad to hear that Deputy O'Connor, who is working closely with families and other stakeholders, has invited the Minister of State to meet the stakeholders of this campaign in Youghal. I believe a date has been scheduled for this visit.

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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I congratulate the Leas-Cheann Comhairle on his elevation to the position and wish him the very best of luck. It has been a long time since we shared an office in the engineering block many years ago. We have both served long apprenticeships in this building.

I thank Deputy Quaide for raising the issue. I stress that enabling students with special educational needs to receive an appropriate education is a priority for me and the Government. It is the Government’s priority to ensure that all children have an appropriate school placement and that the necessary supports are provided to our schools to allow children with special educational needs to flourish and prosper. The spend on special education is at an all-time high, with more than a quarter of the education budget allocated to special education, providing additional teaching and care supports for children with special educational needs.

Since 2020, almost 1,700 new special classes have been provided, bringing the total to more than 3,300. Over the same period, 11 new special schools have been opened. Four of these new special schools opened last year and five more will be established for the 2025-26 school year. Of these 16 new special schools, four are located in County Cork. In 2023, a new special school was established in east Cork in Carrigtwohill. This special school will grow and expand over time. I am absolutely sure of that. By the end of this year, there will be 17 special schools in the country educating more than 1,000 students. More than 400 new special classes were sanctioned for the present school year, with classes provided in every county. Of these, 66 were sanctioned in County Cork. This brings the total number of special classes in County Cork to 563, comprising 395 at primary level and 168 at post-primary level, providing places for approximately 3,400 students. An additional 22 classes have already been sanctioned for the 2025-26 school year and more will be sanctioned in the coming weeks. The vast majority of these classes are autism classes and have a teacher-student ratio of 1:6.

Some 120 SENOs now operate nationwide, 18 of them operating solely in County Cork. The NCSE has completed more than 1,000 school planning visits nationwide in recent months. These meetings will be key to determining which schools will open new special classes in the 2025-26 school year.

The Deputy referred in particular to Youghal and the issues there. He is correct that Deputy O'Connor raised the matter with me a number of times. We have had a number of discussions on it. I look forward to visiting the schools and engaging because it is a priority for me to ensure that places are available in a timely fashion at both primary level and post-primary level. There is a great deal of work going on and there is an awful lot of need out there. I have met the SENOs, the NCSE and the Department of Education officials on numerous occasion in recent weeks to impress on them the importance of making sure people find out where their children are going to school in a timely fashion, particularly in terms of the transition from primary to post-primary school, where there is a particular difficulty nationally. However, we are working to ensure that the advice and information is given to parents in a timely fashion to avoid as much stress as possible, as there is no doubt that families are under enormous stress over these issues.

Liam Quaide (Cork East, Social Democrats)
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I thank the Minister of State. This week I spoke to a family that is campaigning for the proposed secondary school autism class in Youghal. Their current experience of primary education in Youghal is going very well for their son. However, the lead-up to being granted that school placement was a time of major trepidation as it was far from guaranteed due to the level of need out there. Looking ahead to secondary school options, the picture is far more uncertain and anxiety-provoking for this family and many other families in the area. The two nearest suitable placements would be either in Dungarvan or Carrigtwohill. Both involve significant travel time and disconnection of that boy from his local community. As things stand both of those schools are very much oversubscribed so other options the family may have to consider would be as far away as Waterford city or Rochestown in Cork. The additional travel time would be a huge additional imposition of stress for this family. This stress would be avoidable for these families if the Government was to vindicate the right of their children to be educated locally. We all know that transitions from primary school to secondary school can be difficult in the best of circumstances. This proposed new special education class would bring peace of mind to many families in and around Youghal who are currently in a very distressing limbo with regard to their children's prospective secondary school placements. I ask again for the Government's support with this through a concrete funding commitment.

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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There is funding available in the current year for additional classes. In his earlier contribution Deputy Quaide mentioned Waterford and Dungarvan, and it would be remiss of me not to refer to that. We have had a number of meetings in relation to the issues there as well. Most recently we met with the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, and with officials to try and make sure there is a focus on that and so that we understand the challenges there. I understand the challenges first hand in relation to these issues.

The Government is committed to ensure there are places available. Our duty is to make sure those places are available in a timely fashion. I will be working with the NCSE, and with the Department of Education officials to make sure they are available in a timely fashion. There are more SENOs this year than ever. They are in place and on the ground since 1 September. As I said at the outset, they are working through 1,000 school visits. We have to bring that together over the next number of weeks because we have to give certainty to parents. Parents are stressed and are extremely concerned, not just about the transition but also about where they are going to have places.

It is totally and absolutely wrong that children are travelling long distances to school. These are children with additional needs and they are expected to travel for over an hour in some instances. That practice cannot continue. We must make sure that we have school places in the communities at primary and secondary levels. We must ensure that all children, especially those with additional needs, are accommodated within their communities insofar as possible. I cannot stress enough that this has to be communicated to parents, families and children in a timely fashion because heretofore it was not. We had some instances where the children did not know where they were going when they finished primary school. They did not know in the last week in June where they would be in the first week of September. That practice is no longer acceptable. We will work might and main to ensure we iron out those difficulties.