Emer Currie (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Acting Chairperson is a woman of many talents, unsurprisingly. I thank the Minister of State for stepping in for the Minister of State at the Department of Education, Deputy Madigan.

I will begin by commenting on the progress announced this week regarding special classes at primary and post-primary level, particularly in south Dublin, where fee-paying schools will now open special classes funded by the Department of Education on condition that these are not fee-paying and their lands will be made available for special schools on their campuses. That is very positive. There will be an additional four-classroom special needs base in Templeogue College as well as additional places in Cabra and in Danu Community Special School in Dublin 15. I am aware the latter is moving to its new temporary premises and there will be an increase of six places.

Progress is definitely happening, but I have to raise the issue of Dublin 15. The Minister of State is aware of the pressures there. I will talk about the pressures on special classes at post-primary level. I believe 11 children require special class placements for September 2022. The Minister of State will know where we are as regards helping our constituents with mainstream placements for September 2022. This is based on data that has been collected from the autism school Dublin 15 committee who previously mobilised parents, principals and professionals. They came together to prove to the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, that the numbers that needed a special school were there. Danu opened off the back of their mobilisation and proactivity, where the NCSE had not done this work. Those parents now find themselves in a similar position.

I will talk about one parent who has a daughter in a special class in primary school. She is doing very well. That parent is aware that five secondary schools in Dublin 15 with special classes do not have the space for her daughter. That was communicated to the NCSE some months ago. The parent has been engaging with the NCSE since January 2021 about this issue. The most recent communications from the NCSE indicated that no further schools are guaranteed for special classes at present for the September 2022-23 academic year and it is still working with schools in the area on the possibility of expanding. That is where that parent is. The Minister of State knows, as we all do, the importance of transition from primary to post-primary school for any child. These include the logistics of whether there will be new accommodation, the staff, the school, the pressures on the school and the preparation for next year. The student's neurotypical peers already have school book lists and have decided on their subjects, while teachers have been preparing their learning profiles.

Parents had to mobilise to get the NCSE to act. In fact, it was the Department that acted to get the data for them. What is happening now? They need information at this stage. Dublin 15 has already gone down the road of a section 37. That was very difficult for schools, principals and parents. Nobody wants that, but is that where we are going? If so, where are they in the process? This is a child that has had a disability recognised since she was three years old. She has been in a special class in a primary school for her primary school education. What needs to happen in order for the NCSE to plan ahead?