Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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107. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of students that will be enrolled into the interim special school in County Monaghan in September 2025; if there is capacity at the site of that school to increase enrolment numbers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17182/25]

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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This time last year, we were told there was no need for a special school in County Monaghan. It took a sustained and dignified campaign by families of children with disabilities, which others and I were proud to support, to lead to the announcement that an interim special school would open in Castleblayney this coming September. Will the Minister of State give an assurance that every child that needs a place in that school will receive one?

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy. The Government is fully committed to supporting children with special educational needs to reach their full potential. In the programme for Government, we have a number of commitments in that regard. Dedicated working groups have been established by the Department of Education to work through the details relating to the establishment of the five new special schools for the 2025-26 school year, including the new special school in County Monaghan. In the previous Dáil, I had the honour of chairing the disability committee and many of the groups that appeared before us spoke about the need for a special school in County Monaghan. The Deputy's colleague in the Seanad, Senator Tully, who was Leas-Chathaoirleach of our committee, was to the fore at the committee on that issue.

We are establishing a new special school in County Monaghan under the patronage of Cavan and Monaghan Education and Training Board. This is a new school to be located in Castleblayney. It is a former school property, which is being repurposed to facilitate the opening of a new school. A principal for the new special school is currently being recruited. This role is critical to the special school's advancement of its enrolment policies and procedures as agreed with the school patron. The school will provide for students with a diagnosis of autism and complex learning needs, or students with complex learning needs with a professional recommendation for a special school. I understand that the school will initially admit 18 students and the application window for admissions closed last week. A number of information events for parents were held jointly by the ETB and the NCSE in recent weeks.

The Deputy asked a specific question. At most of the departmental meetings, we discuss all of the special schools that are being established. The Department is keeping Cavan-Monaghan, and the Monaghan region in particular, under constant review as regards the number of children who will need a special school in the coming year.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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I congratulate the Minister of State on his appointment. To give him some background, last January, I organised a public meeting for families and children with disabilities. We were specifically told by the NCSE at that stage that there were no plans for a special school in Monaghan. For months thereafter, we were told there was a process to decide the locations of special schools, yet no one could ever outline what the process involved or any of the criteria that would apply. Finally, in the mouth of a general election, an announcement was made. It is clear that the process and the criteria came down to political pressure.

The Minister of State has stated that the special school will initially admit 18 students. Can he clarify how many applications were received on the deadline last week? It is critically important the Minister of State gives us an assurance now that families will not have to start campaigning again before the new school is even open to ensure sufficient capacity at that school.

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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First, I wish to reassure the Deputy that the Department and the design team within it, the NCSE and the local ETB will continue to review the accommodation options available to allow the special school to grow and expand. While it is initially for 18 students in the coming year, we want to ensure we have available space to meet the growing need that we anticipate within the Monaghan community over the next number of years. I do not have to hand the exact number of students who had applied by 31 March but I will get that information for the Deputy and pass it on to him.

I am reassured by the Department and the NCSE that they are reviewing. There is a lot of work going on in the context of the five special schools we are opening throughout the country. Each one of them has a working group to ensure it is opening with the necessary facilities not just for this year but for future years as well.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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As the Minister of State is aware, parents slept outside the gates of Leinster House last week demanding the most basic of human rights, that is, a school place for their child. I met them. I do not know whether the Minister of State got the opportunity to do so but if he did, he would have heard horror stories of children being left behind by the Government and a failed system. I was particularly disturbed to hear from areas where interim schools were established many years ago on the promise of a permanent school that has yet to come, resulting in inadequate capacity in sometimes unsuitable premises. That will not be tolerated in Monaghan, just as it should not be tolerated or accepted anywhere. The fight to deliver this school went on for far too long already.

There will be 18 places in September, which I acknowledge is 18 more than last year. That is very welcome. We need the plans for the permanent school to start right now, however. We need the Minister of State to promise – and I have to say this again - that every child who needs a place in the special school in Monaghan will actually get one. I urge the Minister of State to bring himself to a position where he can make that promise as soon as possible.

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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I met a number of the parents who were here last week. I know only full well the battle that all the families and parents are going through, not just from being a public representative but also from personal experience as well. I am fully aware of the challenges parents face daily with regard to special needs, particularly the battles around the country for special schools. I refer to a number of policies that were being spearheaded by the UN decades ago in relation to mainstreaming. There are children with acute needs who will need special schools. We need to ensure those places are developed, not just on temporary sites, but rather that they are available and developed on permanent sites that are in the centre of their communities. We need to make sure that children with special educational needs, whether they are in Castleblayney or any other part of the country, are in a central location and that we have proper facilities for them.

I will give a commitment that I will work as hard as is humanely possible for as long as I hold this role to make sure we have places available for children. In this instance, we will have 18 spaces available, but we will work over the next while to make sure there are more spaces throughout the country.