Tim Lombard (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State. It is great to see him here.

I wish to raise the plight of a school that is perhaps the school furthest away from this complex, namely, the Beara Community School in Castletownbere. Its location is very peripheral. It is right on the coast. Its catchment includes not only the town of Castletownbere but also the surrounding villages from Eyries to Ardgroom and Adrigole. It is the centre of secondary education on the Beara Peninsula.

The school has a major plight. It is trying to supply special education on the school complex. I acknowledge that an application has been lodged by the Beara Community School for an important single-storey special education unit and associated works. That application has been submitted. It is important. We are concerned with the timeline involved. The pre-planning proposals with regard to this project dragged on for years.Now it has gone for planning permission. I spoke to parents over the weekend and last night when I was in Glengarriff. They are genuinely concerned about the length of time it will take to deliver the proposal. A significant number of steps have to be taken. Design detail, specifications and a bill of quantities have to be set out. Tender documents have to be produced and a tender process has to be completed. Following that, the unit has to be constructed and fitted out. That will take a considerable period of time. There is a need for the facilities in September when children will be going to Beara Community School without a dedicated unit for special needs. That is not good enough in this day and age. What we need to see here is a two-pronged approach. First, a special needs unit must be put in place on a temporary basis immediately. The school needs the support of the Department to deliver it. It is most important that happens between now and September for the children who will be going to the school. The school does phenomenally well. It is a wonderful organisation and it is coping really well but, unfortunately, it does not have the building it requires. Second, we must see the proposals in respect of the construction, tendering process and the bill of quantities fast-tracked. Otherwise, given the length of time the pre-planning stage took, it could take years for the unit to be built. I must stress that geographically, Castletownbere and the Beara peninsula are as far away as one can possibly get from Dublin. A special approach needs to be taken for this school. The children in the area have no other option. They cannot go to the next nearest school. The next nearest school is probably in Kenmare in County Kerry or towards Bantry on the other side. We are not talking about a distance of 3 or 4 miles. We are talking about a distance of 50, 60 or 70 miles. The geographical issue here cannot be underestimated. A different approach must be taken to ensure this educational needs unit is delivered in a very short space of time. I ask the Government to seriously rethink how these strategic units are planned going forward so that children are not left in a situation, such as the one I am fearful they will face in September, whereby they are going to a school with no dedicated special needs unit.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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I am glad the Senator has raised this most important issue of special needs education provision for Beara Community School. The Senator made a passionate case in highlighting the geographical location of the school and in stressing why it is so important that we fast-track a solution as soon as we can. There is no easy option for children to travel to attend units elsewhere. That has been made clear by the Senator. I will certainly bring that to the attention of the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, and the Minister for Education. The Minister of State would like to be here today to take the Commencement matter, but is unable to do so. I will also engage with the Senator directly on the issue. We are keen to fast-track a solution as soon as possible to ensure the needs of the children are met.

I thank the Senator for raising the matter today. At the outset, I want to stress that enabling students with additional needs to receive an education appropriate to their needs, and as close to home as possible, ideally in their own local school, is an ongoing priority for this Government. As the Senator said, that is most important. This year, the Department of Education will invest in excess of €2 billion, or more than 25% of the Department’s budget, in the area of special educational needs support. As a result, the numbers of special education teachers, special needs assistants, SNAs, and special class and school places are at unprecedented levels, and rightly so. For the 2021 to 2022 school year, the number of special classes in mainstream schools stands at a current total of 2,148. Of these, almost 1,900 special classes cater for students with autism. Recognising some of the difficulties experienced by parents in securing appropriate school placements, over the last two years the Department of Education and the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, have worked closely on a more streamlined and joined up planning process which has ensured a targeted approach to meet demand for special needs placements ahead of each new school year. Overall, this intensive intervention has seen an additional 300 special classes, providing 1,800 new places, already opened nationwide for the 2021 to 2022 school year. For the 2022 to 2023 school year, an additional 315 classes, providing 1,800 additional places, will become available in September.

The NCSE has responsibility for co-ordinating and advising on the education provision for children with special educational needs nationwide. It has well-established structures in place for engaging with schools and parents. The NCSE seeks to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all children who have been identified as needing special class placements. I assure Senator Lombard that the Department continues to prioritise and support this work. The Department also recognises that where parents have difficulties in securing an appropriate school placement for their children, particularly a child with additional needs, it can be a stressful experience. The Department is working hard to ensure there are sufficient school places appropriate to the needs of all children available on a timely basis nationwide.

As matters stand, I can confirm on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, that there are two special classes in Beara Community School which cater for children with multiple disabilities and autism. While the Department has already approved funding for two permanent special educational units under the additional school accommodation scheme, it is open to the school to request further funding for interim accommodation under this scheme pending delivery of the permanent building project.

The Department is engaging with the school on the issue in terms of identifying the most appropriate solution. While the Senator is correct that we need to fast-track the system of delivery after the initial allocation of funding through planning and all the different phases, sometimes there is also the need for a temporary solution. That option is open here and there is engagement. I am happy that we will try to continue with that engagement in order that we have solutions for this coming September.

The Department and the NCSE are always grateful to schools that express a willingness to open a special class to meet the educational needs of students in their local communities. There are special educational needs organisers located across the country and they have a specific remit in helping and supporting parents in accessing the education necessary for their children, including in identifying suitable school placements.

The NCSE is currently engaging in a process of establishing new classes for the 2022-23 school year and beyond. The NCSE is looking at local information with regard to projected demand for future special education places, particularly to cater for students with autism who have associated complex needs. It will continue to work in Cork for a number of years to identify the needs for the county and the various areas.

Tim Lombard (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his response. This issue is about trying to make sure we have this dedicated unit put in place. The amount of work that is being done by the Beara Community School to make sure that it is managing very capably with what it has at the moment is appropriate, but it really needs to get this dedicated unit on the ground. It needs for this process to be fast-tracked. I cannot understate that. It really is important. The geographical location of the school means it has no other option and because of that, there must be a special approach here. I ask the Minister of State to go back to the Department to ensure that when planning permission is granted in the next few weeks, we can move ahead with speed to deliver this project.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Again, on behalf of the Department of Education, I thank Senator Lombard for raising this very important issue of Beara Community School and the surrounding community. The Department will work with the school and the Senator in order to try to find a timely solution. Naturally, it is important that the planning is granted and the hopefully we be able to fast-track all the other stages.

It is also important that we have access to temporary accommodation if that is deemed appropriate. I think the school is happy to go down that route as well. This would, however, be a twin-track approach to have some temporary immediate accommodation as well as a full commitment to fast-tracking and delivering the permanent accommodation as quickly as possible. Again, I thank the Senator for raising the issue. I will bring his concerns back to the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, and Minister, Deputy Foley, directly.