Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Fein)
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My Topical Issue concerns the shortage of SNAs and access to respite in respect of special schools in Cork. I have two specific schools in mind and the Minister of State will be familiar with the issues regarding them. I initially tabled this in the context of the news that had just broken to parents of children in St. Gabriel's Special School, Bishopstown, which caused enormous alarm. I spoke to a number of those parents. It was articulated that due to a lack of SNAs, it was proposed that children deemed high risk would be reduced to a three-day week while children deemed at lower risk would be looking at a four-day week.

In respect of this and the other issue, which relates to Carrigaline Community Special School, fundamental to special education and the philosophy that underpins it of ensuring children get the support and education they need to reach their potential is continuity, consistency and predictability. Undoubtedly, had the school introduced three-day-per-week or four-day-per-week provision to children for a period - I think the period being talked about was six weeks - that would have caused enormous problems. A number of public representatives contacted the Minister of State, including Councillor Joe Lynch from our side on our behalf. There was a quick enough response from his office and parents were subsequently informed that the proposal to go a reduced week would not proceed and that the NCSE would be engaging with the school to address the staff shortages.

I am asking for an update on how the Department and the NCSE will work with St. Gabriel's Special School to ensure there is adequate staff. The concern from the management was that there was insufficient staff to ensure safety and the quality education to which the children were entitled. It is positive that the NCSE and the Department engaged to the extent that they did on Friday to ensure the school re-opened in full but the underlying issues need to be resolved in terms of ensuring adequate staffing.

The second issue concerns Carrigaline Community Special School. Several issues have arisen there, many of which relate to staff turnover but also because of the lack of respite and therapies due to it being an ETB school. There are reports today of one child having three teachers within a relatively short period. These are all interlinked. A child who does not have access to adequate therapies will potentially be dysregulated, not reach his or her full potential and find the experience difficult. The teachers are then under pressure because the child is dysregulated leading to a knock-on impact in terms of burnout. That has an impact on parents, who are frustrated and see turnover. Those parents are not being supported by adequate respite and have to fight for everything. The situation there is not good enough.

The focus needs to be on solutions to the issues facing the school. The Department am an ghátair had to ask the ETB to open special schools in Rochestown and Carrigaline but the lack of access to therapies and respite is hugely undermining their ability to do that. This has an impact in terms of staff burnout and turnover. Who pays the price for this ultimately? Who is paying the price of the State being unable to put in place to everything they need? It is the children. It is those who are most at the margins so we clearly need a solution to the issues. I would also like an update on St. Gabriel's Special School.

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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Last Thursday, Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan contacted me about St. Gabriel's Special School and the information it had given to parents. It is a very challenging and distressing situation. On Friday morning, the Department and the National Council for Special Education made contact with the school and a very extensive meeting was held in the afternoon. Thankfully, the position taken by the management and board on Thursday night was reversed and the full school opened on Monday morning.

I thank all those who work in special schools for their enormous commitment to special education. The NCSE and the Department are continuing to work with St. Gabriel's Special School on any issues it has and to provide the best possible supports. It is important that we understand the challenges within school communities and that if they exist, they are communicated to the NCSE and the Department before any decisions are taken relating to school hours.

There are ongoing discussions with the ETB, the Department and the NCSE regarding Carrigaline Community Special School. I am well aware of the issues the public domain. I do not want to comment publicly on them. I want to make sure we find resolutions for both schools. We met with the National Association of Boards of Management in Special Education last Friday at its annual conference and I met many of its teams. I have visited many of the schools around the country and know acutely the work that is happening and the challenges they face. ETBs throughout the country are taking on special schools and we must compliment them on the work they do. We also need to support them in a very meaningful way. When delivering schools at post-primary or primary level or at further education level, ETBs will have directors and it is important that we have one contact within the ETBs who is the director of the special schools. Cork ETB has taken on a number of schools and is constructing another a school in Carrignavar on the site of the previous school so a lot of work is ongoing. We have to make sure we have the proper resources to support them and the teams that run the special schools.

The Government took the decision earlier in April or May of this year to put therapists back into special schools. That work is ongoing. The education therapy service, ETS, is being developed and is a priority for Government. Recruitment will starting in phases but we must also ensure we are training enough therapists to put them back into special schools. That will equip the special schools with the human resources to provide the best possible service, help and support to students and the teams that work in special schools. We are committed to that.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Fein)
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I have the written part of the Minister of State's statement and some of that is useful as well. I am glad he is here today because I appreciate that he is up to date on the issues. It is important that the Department takes this seriously. The NCSE and the Department are taking it seriously but, clearly, we need solutions. While the potential reduced hours did not proceed in St. Gabriel's Special School, there is still an issue. To the best of my knowledge, no additional staff have been allocated since the issue arose on Thursday. Could the Minister give me an update of what is planned over the next couple of weeks to address the issues in terms of the staffing?

It is good to hear that there is a discussion happening between the Department and the ETBs. It is also important that parents are a part of that too, in relation to the issues in Carrigaline Community Special School. In many instances, because it is the State's patron effectively, the ETB is very often not in a position to say, "Yes", "No" or whatever. If it is asked to open a special school, it opens a special school and that is the way it is. It is right that it does so but it needs to get the support it ought to get. The lack of access to respite is very hard to comprehend. Parents who have enrolled a child in a special school would have assumed, just because the patron was the patron, that these schools would have the same terms, conditions and supports that any special school would have, and it is right that they should have. That needs to happen.

Returning to the issue I submitted, clearly there is an issue in ensuring that we recruit and retain special needs assistants, SNAs. Some of this pertains to the terms and conditions that apply but it seems that there is an issue in relation to teachers in special schools because maybe there are opportunities available in some other schools outside the special education sector. It can be difficult to hold onto them but ultimately that is having a knock-on effect on the children and their continuity of education.

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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The budget for special education is over €3 billion this year. The Deputy will recall that following the budget last week, we will hire over 1,700 additional SNAs and over 860 teachers in special schools and special classes. The first thing I would like to say is that the work being done by the teachers and the teams working in special schools or special classes helping children with additional needs throughout the country is absolutely phenomenal. Phenomenal work is being done by the SNAs. All of the people and the teams willing to work in the special schools or special classes are top of the range and we have to make sure we support them in every way.

The Deputy raised an issue in relation to the ETBs versus the State. It is the duty of the State to open and run special schools throughout the country. Over the decades some of the special schools were developed basically by community organisations and community groups of volunteers that set up and started off in their communities. We are duty bound. We have to ensure that we have the arm of the State, which is the ETBs, working with the Department of education and the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, to develop special schools across the country. I do take the point in relation to resourcing them because there is a particular skill set. I would classify those who work in the special schools and special classes as superhuman beings, be they teachers, leadership or SNAs. We have to support them in a very meaningful way and we have to understand the challenges that are being faced.

The Deputy mentioned two schools at the very outset. I reassure him that we are engaging. The Department and the NCSE are engaging very closely with St. Gabriel's and with the school in Carrigaline. I am in contact with parents who have contacted me. I will continue to be in contact with both schools and both teams to ensure we have proper resolution of any issues there.