Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)

On several occasions over recent months, I have asked the Minister for Education and Science to intervene, as a matter of urgency, in what was described in The Irish Times today by a former principal of Newpark comprehensive school as enclaves of segregation in Dublin schools. The failure of the Minister to intervene to ensure equity within the education system at secondary level will return to haunt her because people with special needs are being excluded from certain schools. Her failure to intervene is compounding the problem by allowing it to continue. In the 1990s, approximately 1% of the students in mainstream second level education had special needs, whereas this year in Newpark alone, the proportion stands at 10% of the school's intake of 790 students. These problems exist throughout the country, although they are greatest in Dublin.