Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for the invitation to visit Dundalk and Louth. When I visited Coláiste Chú Chulainn, I was extremely impressed by the principal, Mr. Sharkey, and the incredible work he has done in opening two special classes in the school. I was also impressed by the incredible work by Maria Doyle and Eileen Harte in the CBS primary school. I also went to St. Colmcille's in Tullydonnell to see the four autism spectrum disorder, ASD, classes and met the principal, Anne Marie Forde. There are incredible examples in these schools of the work they are doing in mainstream inclusion but also in opening special classes, which is something that, as Minister of State with responsibility for special education, I acknowledge and encourage. I thank the Senator for his interest in this extremely important area. The issues he has raised are also important.One of the measures I managed to secure in this particular budget and budget 2023 was extra resources for the National Council for Special Education, NCSE. The staffing levels in the NCSE had not changed since 2004 or 2007. Now we managed to secure a €13 million payment to the NCSE. In those circumstances it will be able to employ an additional 160 staff members, who are advisers and special educational needs organisers, SENOs. SENOs are critical when talking about that communication piece with parents and families through the schools, whether it is primary or post-primary, in terms of obtaining an appropriate placement for their child.

The Senator referred to education being a right. It is a right for every child in this country, regardless of whether they have an additional need or not. The first thing we have to do, and it is enshrined in the Constitution, is to find an appropriate placement for the child. The second thing we try to do then is to try to find a placement in the locality for that child. That has proved to be a challenge, not just for children with additional needs but other children as well who have to travel on buses to obtain a school they can attend because their local school may be fully booked up. It is a particular challenge for children with additional needs because they are more vulnerable. That is something I am increasingly aware of and something the Ombudsman for Children mentioned in his report in terms of travel, but in the first instance, we want to make sure every child has an appropriate placement.

In Louth this year, as we know, all children with additional needs were catered for. We have 69 special classes in total in Louth at the moment - 54 in primary and 15 in post-primary. There were 13 new classes for September 2022 - 11 primary and two post-primary. That is a significant addition to what was there originally. The Senator asked in particular about the future and forward planning. When I came into this role, which was specially created, so I am the first Minister with responsibility for special education, we had a wide look at the forecasting models already in existence and at how we could improve these, ameliorate planning and make sure there was that proper sharing of data between the Department, the schools and the NCSE. We have a new forecasting model in place which is over a five-year-period. The Senator is quite right. I do not have the particular data but I take him at his word. I am not sure is he talking about 18 classes or 18 spaces because, there is obviously a difference.