Marie Sherlock (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I support the Order of Business which I thought would be opposed. I am glad that we can support it and that the Bill is not being guillotined.

I wish to raise the issue of special or ASD class places, particularly secondary school places. Right now many families across this country are facing into Christmas not knowing whether they will have a school place for their child with additional needs next September. Most children who do not have additional needs are certain of their school place going into 2024 but that is not the reality for hundreds of families with children who have additional needs. These families have already come through a bruising system and must apply to many multiples of schools. It is a lottery to get a school place. Parents have told me that they often apply for more than 20 places. Due to the shortages and because there is no system to match children with schools many families are now left in limbo as we go into the Christmas period so something must change. I want the Minister of State who has responsibility for special education to come in here and explain what the Department of Education will do to help these families and ensure there is some sort of co-ordination so schools that have ASD classes or special schools are matched with the children who need these places.

The current system does not work. We have some great SENOs across the country while others need to do better. It is simply unacceptable that a Minister would say that parents should talk to their SENO and the SENO will advise because SENOs have advised parents to just keep applying. That situation is not good enough because it means parents must spend €20 every time as they must buy an original birth certificate in order to blindly apply to a whole raft of schools all the while with zero assurance that their child is in with a shouting chance of getting a place. The system operates on a wing and a prayer and there is no strategy. We must do better for these families because they have already endured so much in terms of trying to get services at the most basic level for their children. In every facet of life these parents must fight and advocate for their children. While there has been an expansion of places at primary level I have not seen that at secondary school level over the last two years.

We know that Bunreacht na hÉireann guarantees every child in this country a free primary education but that does not apply to secondary education which leads me to ask the following. Is this part of the Department of Education's slowness to help children find a secondary school place? The decision regarding the Sinnott case allows for enhanced rights for the parents and families of children with additional needs but we are not seeing it in practice so something must change.