Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator. First, I welcome the students from Ballyvourney, in my constituency of Cork North-West, to the Gallery. I hope they will have a very enjoyable trip around Leinster House and see how things go here. It is always a great day when students come to Leinster House. Sometimes, people remember it forever.

I congratulate Senator Kelleher and wish him well in his role. I thank him for giving me the opportunity to outline in Seanad Éireann the issue related to Scoil Eoin in Ballincollig. To give a brief outline, the NCSE actively encourages expressions of interest from all schools to open special classes. I appreciate and commend the efforts taken by the board of management in expressing its interest. However, it is not always possible to open special classes in every school that expresses an interest. When assessing the needs in the local area, the NCSE identifies schools in the neighbouring vicinity with available special class vacancies or capacity and assesses their capacity with consideration to the demographics and data it has.

The National Council for Special Education acknowledges that circumstances may change, and these schools will remain as potential options for future classes. I compliment the SENO team right across the country, but in County Cork in particular, on the work it has done over the last while. The local SENO team remains available to assist and advise parents of children with special educational needs. In respect of Scoil Eoin, the Department of Education received an application in 2021 under the additional school accommodation scheme. The application was for funding for the provision of three special education classrooms. The Department of Education's school building technical team carried out an in-depth review of the school site in 2021, as alluded to by the Senator. The review confirmed that the school and site were at maximum capacity and it would not be possible to provide the required accommodation on site unless a vast amount of the existing accommodation were demolished and replaced with two-storey accommodation. Considering all the relevant implications for delivery of the brief of accommodation and the site constraints, the project was not deemed viable.

The Department of Education continues to engage with the NCSE regarding the provision of special classes at primary schools in the Ballincollig area. School building projects in my Department's pipeline will deliver 11 additional and replacement special classrooms at primary school level in Ballincollig this year. While the priority in the first instance will be to use existing available accommodation capacity within Ballincollig, the Department is also engaging with schools on a potential requirement for modular accommodation to meet the near-term needs for special classes.

I spoke in the Dáil and to a number of colleagues on this matter. I will liaise with the school authorities. I have spoken to some of the school leadership on this. I will continue to liaise with them to find a suitable solution because I understand Scoil Eoin is eager to deliver special classes, for which it is to be complimented. I commend the work it is doing. I will endeavour to liaise with the school to see if we can get a resolution.