No room at the school for special needs pupils

FIVE special needs children find themselves outside the education system due to a funding dispute between a Dublin school and the Department of Education.

Yesterday, the man pursuing a high-profile campaign to secure a special needs school place for his 11-year-old daughter was informed at an emergency meeting with school management that five children’s enrolments at St Michael’s special school were delayed because of funding issues.

James McDonagh, 31, whose daughter, Angel, suffers from closed spina bifida and learning difficulties was told by the Department of Education and the HSE to enrol Angel at the St Michael’s House special school in Rathgar. However, when he took his daughter to the school yesterday morning, school management said they could not enrol her due to lack of staff, the run down state of school buildings and cutbacks to school travel expenses.