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

It goes without saying that there are, and will be, conversations we are not aware of that are ongoing with schools in Louth and in the environs and that would not be publicly available. Those children may already be catered for, but that is something on which I can update the Senator. One of the things we want to do is to make sure that gap between primary and post-primary is closed, not only in Louth but throughout the country, so that nobody falls off a cliff and there is an appropriate placement for them to continue on with their education. We have the legislation in place now in terms of section 37A but also section 67, where the NCSE can designate a child to a school if needs be. It is important to say that the majority of places are opened without recourse to the section 37A legislation, but it is there if we need it. There is also the additional accommodation scheme whereby the Department, through the planning and building unit, can provide extra funding to reconfigure the school itself to provide that extra capacity where it is needed, as long as the school is willing to do so. I thank all of the schools and I mentioned some in the Senator's constituency and locality earlier. I thank other schools as well that volunteer as it goes a huge way to helping these children with additional needs, which ultimately is what this is all about.