James Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and his action plan. I very much welcome the strong focus on the continued integration of children with special needs and from disadvantaged backgrounds. There are real problems in retaining such children in school. The school completion programme has played a critical role in achieving the goal of keeping children in school for as long as possible to avail of an education. The facts are startling. As mentioned by other Senators, higher educational attainment, tangentially, leads to a higher paid job. Many children, including those with special needs, can excel if given the right support at the right time, for example, by SNAs, the number of which the Minister has increased on a yearly basis. The responsibility to meet the increasing demand for speech and language and behavioural therapy lies more with the HSE. As children only have one childhood, cross-departmental co-operation is required to deliver services. The Department of Education and Skills has improved in leaps and bounds in this regard.

I especially welcome the Minister's comments on DEIS schools and his examination of the synergies between schools to provide the best support for children. The measure is innovative and novel and bound to lead to good results. Many children with special needs or from disadvantaged backgrounds can excel if given the right support, the provision of which can involve multiple agencies and Departments. I have mentioned the Department of Education and Skills, the Department of Health and the HSE in this regard. Other organisations and Departments include Tusla, the local authorities, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, the Department with responsibility for the environment and the Department of Justice and Equality.

Schools and parents will always worry about losing services. Striking a balance between rewarding a school that has achieved great results through its teachers and staff working hard and, on the other side, providing resources where they will make impact the most and are most needed is difficult, but it is a task that must be watched closely. I agree fully with the move away from diagnosis towards need in the determining the support to be provided. When I was Minister for Health and former Deputy Kathleen Lynch was Minister of State at the Department of Health, we promoted this initiative.

On a broader and brighter note, it is great to see cranes in Balbriggan and Lusk where schools are being built. I welcome the news that tenders have been issued to proceed with the second phase of Lusk community college. I know that St. Michael's in Skerries is anxiously awaiting a new premises for its students. When I visited the school, I discovered that conditions there were very poor. If ever a school required a new building, St. Michael's deserves one. The students include some of the most vulnerable in our society and it will reflect on us if we do not look after them and provide them with the educational environment they desire and deserve. The staff at the school do a wonderful job in difficult circumstances.

St. Joseph's secondary school in Rush has provided classes on coding for a number of years. Many students participate in them, even though the subject is not on either curriculum.

Let me highlight a real problem in Swords. The Minister has answered parliamentary questions on the topic. I will read a letter I received from a resident:

My family and I life within five minutes of the Holy Family school in River Valley. We are, therefore, local residents and Catholics so we fit the criteria for a school place. On Thursday we received a letter from the school to inform us that our daughter, four in November, was not a successful applicant and she has been placed on a waiting list.

The waiting list includes up to 100 children. Owing to the unprecedented numbers applying for admission, in the end the school decided to go by the age of the child. Any child whose date of birth was beyond 4 November was placed on a waiting list. There are other schools in Swords where clearly there is a problem, but the Department states otherwise. The problem needs to be highlighted. Holywell national school also has a waiting list. When the family in question rang to inquire about a place, they were told there was a waiting list but no number was given. Another primary school in Swords is Scoil an Duinnínigh. Again, when the family inquired about a place, they were told there was a waiting list and that following the making of an application, their child would be 30th on the list. St. Cronan's junior national school is at full capacity. Gaelscoil Bhrian Bóroimhe is in its second round of offers and there is a waiting list but, again, no number was given. Old Borough national school is at full capacity. St. Colmcille's girls' national school will be accepting applications until March. Thornleigh Educate Together national school is in the second round and there is a waiting list. Swords Educate Together primary school has a waiting list of 135.

The Department has stated the problem of finding a school place is not as big as we believe it is, but people on the ground have had a different experience. It would be great if the Minister were to visit the constituency as it would afford him an opportunity to see all of the cranes and the great work being done by his Department. He would also be able to learn about the challenges that remain. The constituency has the fastest growing population of young people in Ireland if, not the European Union. As such the provision of school places will continue to present real challenges. Therefore, we must plan for the future. There is a landbank in Fingal which is the obvious place in which to provide for future expansion.