Barry Ward (Fine Gael)
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I am pleased the Minister of State has come to the House to deal with this matter because it is something she knows a great deal about and she has corresponded with parents in St. Mary's Boys' National School about it. She is welcome to the House and I am delighted that she has taken the time to speak to us.

St. Mary's Boys' National School is a national school on Grotto Avenue in Booterstown. There are about 300 boys in the school and it has demonstrated extraordinary inclusivity in regard to special educational needs, particularly autism. While many schools in the area cannot accommodate children with autism, St. Mary's has gone to great lengths - I pay tribute to Mr. Noel Scully and his team at the school - to include and accommodate those students and to allow them to continue to attend in an inclusive and full way that is not possible in other schools. Unfortunately, however, there is great demand in the area for autism services and autism inclusion facilities. Autism affects boys to a much greater extent than girls, by a factor of four. It is understandable, therefore, that there is much greater demand than there might be in a girls' school or even in a mixed school. There is significant demand and the Minister of State is aware of that too.

What is significant about the project is that there is very strong support in both the school and wider community and in the local parish for a solution that will facilitate the autism services unit, ASU, and there is a ready-made solution that will work. Located immediately next to St. Mary's Boys' National School is the Booterstown parish hall, at the end of Grotto Avenue where the school is located, facing Rock Road with a side entrance that the students have to pass on their way to and from school. It is an adjacent building owned by the Catholic parish of Booterstown. Fr. Gerry Kane has been in touch with the school and is supportive of this and the building is available. We - the students, parents and community - want the Department to purchase that building and to provide it to St. Mary's Boys' National School as a facility and location for an ASU for those who need it. There is room in that building to meet the existing demand.

The beauty of this project is that everybody is for it, as I think the Minister of State is too. The Department sees the reasonable nature of what has been proposed. It is a building right next to the school that is available and I understand the parish is willing to part with it to facilitate the ASU for St. Mary's Boys' National School. The question is whether we can do this in short order. The building is available now and will not interfere with, for example, adjacent community facilities there. With the goodwill of the school community, the local community and, one hopes, the Department, there is a ready-made solution to deal with this issue, which exists throughout the area. I do not believe there is an ASU anywhere in the area from Booterstown to Leopardstown. There is one in Monkstown but there is a serious dearth of facilities for young boys, in particular, in this area. St. Mary's Boys' National School has come forward with a ready-made solution that will be easy to effect. All it requires is a budgetary box-ticking from the Department. I hope that when the Minister of State responds, she will be able to tell us that progress is being made. Parents are frustrated that the matter has been in progress for a long time and want to know when this can happen. It is ready made and requires just a budgetary allocation from the Department to make it happen and create a solution, for both the Department and the school community in Booterstown.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I thank the Senator. He made a strong case.

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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The issues and challenges that pertain to children with educational needs are very close to the Senator's heart and he raises them in the Chamber regularly. One step I want to take in my position as the first Minister of State with responsibility for special education is to ensure we provide special class places and special school places for all children with additional needs, whether in south Dublin, south Cork or wherever it is in the country. That is something I am determined to do. To that end, in the budget last year, I secured €2 billion for special education for that very purpose, among other needs, for special education teachers, special needs assistants, SNAs, and other matters.

As the Senator will be acutely aware, the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, works, through its special educational needs organisers, SENOs, very closely with schools and parents to ensure we can provide all these class places. We use a five-year forecasting model, which has recently been enhanced, to determine the capacity of those schools and places throughout the country. We are aware that issues have arisen in recent years regarding a shortage of suitable school places in certain pockets of the country, driven primarily by the significant increase in the number of children with additional needs and in demand. I heard what the Senator said about boys in the context of autism, but there has also been exponential growth in the incidence of girls with autism too, and there are a number of reasons for that. Perhaps the enhanced method of diagnosis has resulted in that. It is important there is suitable school accommodation for all children and, through that more enhanced national and local-level planning, it is my objective that all special education places can come on stream in a timely manner.

Turning specifically to St. Mary's Boys' National School in Booterstown, I note that a Zoom meeting will be held on the matter tomorrow evening. The Department and the NCSE are grateful to schools that continue to respond positively in terms of trying to provide that education but we accept that there are circumstances in which there simply is not sufficient capacity, particularly in urban areas where there is high density and schools simply do not have room. I can confirm the Department has been in contact with the parish in regard to the potential acquisition of the Booterstown parish hall and the Senator and I are ad idemon that. It is something I very much agree with. Evaluation of the hall has been received and assessed by Department officials and the Department is negotiating with the owners for the potential acquisition of the site. The Senator will appreciate that due to commercial sensitivities, it is not possible to provide further information at this time. Nevertheless, the acquisition is a priority for the Department and my officials will keep the patron informed of any key developments regarding the acquisition. The site's acquisition is, obviously, complex and subject to the success of the negotiation and the conveyancing processes, and I would not like to say anything that would in any way jeopardise the outcome of that. In those circumstances, it is not possible to give a definitive timeframe but I am hopeful there will be a speedy conclusion and resolution. It is very important for the parents and the children with additional needs that we expedite this.

Barry Ward (Fine Gael)
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I appreciate the work the Minister of State has done on this under her special education brief and acknowledge that she has secured money for the issue. I welcome her statement that this is a priority for the Department. Talks are under way and she stated she hopes there will be a speedy resolution, but today is 12 July and we are one month and a half from the beginning of September.I hope that "speedy" means that we can conclude this before the beginning of the new school year. This is a ready-made solution. It merely needs the Department to sign off on it at one level or another. I hope that the Minister of State, in her capacity with responsibility for special educational needs, can push it through and deliver a solution for the school, the community and, in particular, those students who need this service as soon as possible, hopefully in advance of the beginning of the school year.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I thank the Senator and the Minister of State. The next Commencement matter-----

Barry Ward (Fine Gael)
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Actually-----

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I am sorry. The Minister of State has another minute.

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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The Acting Chairperson is sick of my voice already on a Monday morning.

I note the Senator’s comments about this school. When there is any site acquisition by the Department, we must consider best value for money. That is the reality of the situation. The site acquisition must be thoroughly interrogated by the Department.

I appreciate the Senator’s kind comments about my work. We have had a 286% increase in special class places over the past decade and there are 2,118 special classes this year, providing places to 12,700 children with additional needs. I would like to see this unit up and running at St. Mary’s Boys National School before September, but we have to let the negotiations take place and the Department to acquire the site and work with the school as closely as possible. I hope that there will be good news.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I apologise to the Minister of State for speeding up the process. I am always interested in what she has to say. I am particularly interested when it concerns Booterstown, an area that I represented for many years.