Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State and thank him for taking my Commencement matter. I stand here today talking about a matter that touches the heart of every family and community. It is an area I have worked on over my four and a half years in this House. I am talking about ensuring that we give every child the opportunity to maximise their potential in life. The Government has been extremely supportive in opening a significant number of special classes, particularly in our primary school system, but the reality is that we are not opening a sufficient number of classes in the post-primary system to cater for the demand stemming from the pupils coming through. As I said, it is important that every child gets this opportunity to achieve their potential.

I have been speaking to the family of a young boy by the name of Fiachra. He is only one child from among numerous families in the same position. He is now in sixth class in a special school. He had early intervention and eight full years of primary school in a special class. Now, though, the family does not know if they will be guaranteed a place for Fiachra in September 2025.There are five pupils leaving this national school where they have been for the last eight years. When we look at the numbers across the entire primary school network in County Longford, we see that there are not sufficient places available in the post-primary schools for every child that has that need. The application process for parents applying for the 2025-26 school year is open. Closing dates for the schools are in November, with notifications of whether a child has been accepted or not in December. As I said, we do not have sufficient places in the post-primary schools to cater for that demand. This is something we need to prioritise as a society. Education is key to all our children’s futures. In 2024, we cannot have a situation where parents do not know whether their child is going to have a place in second level education. It needs to be in their local area as well. We cannot have a situation where we are fighting to get additional classes opened in post-primary schools. We have had it before in other counties. It is the same in Westmeath where we have had issues, especially in Athlone, in the last couple of years. We do not want a situation where children and parents have to travel up to 50 miles return twice a day so the children can get their education. The figures are there for the children in special classes within the primary schools. We need to match them up and forward plan 12 to 18 months in advance, rather than waiting until January 2025 to start going to schools and trying to get classrooms open when the closing date for applications for the school year has passed.

I will give the number of places available in the various schools. I will be corrected if I am wrong. There are three places available in Ardscoil Phádraig and two in Cnoc Mhuire Secondary School, both of which are in Granard. There are two in Ballymahon Vocational School and four in Mercy Secondary School, also in Ballymahon. Some of the other schools do not have any availability. Within half the county we have only 11 places covering 20 to 25 primary schools and a significant number of children who have that need. We do not have the capacity in the post-primary schools to meet the demand for September 2025.

We are all aware that transitioning into secondary school is a milestone for any child. My son started only a number of weeks ago and I know what that is like, but for autistic children the change can be overwhelming. It brings new routines, new people and new challenges and we must ensure these transitions are met with support and understanding for those families, rather than obstacles. I ask we put in place a sufficient number of post-primary places in ASD classes throughout Longford and Westmeath to ensure we cater for every single child who needs a place for September 2025.

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator. I apologise that the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, is not available to do the reply. She has asked me to deal with it on her behalf. A priority for this Government is to ensure that all children have an appropriate school placement and that the necessary supports are provided to our schools to ensure the needs of children with special educational needs are met. It is important to remember that the vast majority of children with special educational needs are supported to attend mainstream classes with their peers. To support children with more complex needs, special classes in mainstream schools and special schools are provided.

The Minister of State with responsibility for special education and inclusion, Deputy Naughton, is very aware of the work the Senator is doing to progress the provision of special education places in Longford. She has asked me to convey her apologies that she could not be here to address this matter with the Senator, but she has asked me to assure him that she looks forward to continuing to build on the progress they have made together in the provision of special education places for the children of Longford. As the Senator will know, the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, has responsibility for co-ordinating and advising on the education provision for children nationwide. The Department of Education and the NCSE have introduced a number of strategic initiatives to plan for and provide sufficient mainstream, special class and special school places. Almost 1,700 new special classes have been sanctioned over the last five years and 11 new special schools have been established.

The Senator references the issue of establishing new autism classes in County Longford. Six new classes have been sanctioned for the 2024-25 school year, with four being at primary level and two at post-primary level. This brings the total number of special classes in Longford to 47, of which 30 are at primary level and 17 at post-primary level. The vast majority of these are autism classes and have a teacher-student ratio of 1:6. The NCSE has recruited additional special education needs organisers, SENOs, advisers and team managers. A total of 120 SENOs now operate nationwide, which is almost double what we had previously. Longford now has a SENO dedicated solely to the county. The SENOs play an important role in ensuring there is adequate special educational provision within local areas and are currently visiting schools nationwide to conduct planning meetings. These visits will be key to forward planning for the 2025-26 school year.

This year, the Department of Education will spend in excess of €2.7 billion, or over a quarter of its budget, on providing additional teaching and care supports for children with special educational needs. For the first time we have over 41,500 staff working in the education system who are specifically dedicated to supporting students with special educational needs. For 2025, the Department will further increase the number of teaching and special needs assistant posts in our schools. There will be an additional 768 teachers and a further 1,600 SNAs in our schools. These posts will support the opening of 400 new special classes and 300 new special school places for the 2025-26 school year. The demand for new special classes at post-primary level is expected to increase significantly over the next few years, due to increasing demographics and increasing prevalence rates, and the Department and the NCSE have engaged with post-primary stakeholders about the provision of special classes. The Minister of State outlined the situation further in the circulated reply.

Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for the response. It is important to acknowledge there has been significant investment by the Government in additional school places. The Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, has been extremely proactive in the role. I acknowledge the opening of classes in the county and that a new SENO has been put in place. Today is 7 November and the application process for schools is currently ongoing. The closing date for applications for September 2025 is this month. It is stated in the reply that numerous additional places have been put in and are planned for the 2025-26 school year, but they are not there as of today. That is where I have an issue because parents are looking to make applications for special places in schools. Those places are not in place yet and that is what we need to address. The figures show we have 17 special classes at post-primary level and 30 at primary level. That matches up with the need transitioning from primary into secondary. That is what I wanted to highlight. We have fantastic plans, funding put in place, extra special class teachers and SNAs, but as of today there are parents in Longford and Westmeath who do not know if their child is going to have a place in September 2025. Answers are needed there immediately.

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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In October 2022 the Department wrote to all post-primary schools requesting each school begin planning to provide for up to four special classes to meet the needs of children progressing from primary school.Just last month, the Department issued a circular to all schools setting out new measures to support the forward planning of special education provision. Included in this circular was a reminder of the need for post-primary schools to continue with planning for this level of provision. As a result of this forward planning, four new special schools have opened for this school year and five more have been announced for the 2025-26 school year. Capacity is also expanded in a number of other special schools. The Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, has said that her Department and the NCSE will continue to monitor and review the need for further special classes and schools or the expansion of existing special schools over the coming months. The Department is committed to working in each area. As I have already set out, a SENO has been appointed for Longford to plan for the needs of the area.