Education minister to engage 'intensely' with schools on special needs places
The Minister for Education Norma Foley said: 'Despite all efforts, there has been an inability to deliver the final number of places required as the number of children with special educational needs continues to increase.' Picture: Gareth Chaney/ Collins Photos
The education minister says that she will engage "intensely" with schools in a bid to open up new special needs schools places.
Norma Foley was speaking as the Dáil debated on Friday emergency legislation that will cut the legal process available to the minister to compel a school to open a special educational needs class if they do not agree to do so.
Ms Foley said just over 100 children remain without an appropriate special educational need placement for the coming school year. She said that there was a large amount of work being done to solve this.
"However, despite all efforts, there has been an inability to deliver the final number of places required as the number of children with special educational needs continues to increase.
"My department and the National Council for Special Education will continue to engage intensely with school authorities to open new special classes. This legislation can also play a key role in helping us with those efforts."
Sinn Féin TD Donnchadh O Laoghaire said that the legislation cannot just be used to deflect the short-term criticism of the Government on the issue. He said that this is "not a resource issue".
"I am conscious of the fact that section 37A cannot be a political pressure release valve. This is a useful bill but it is late in the day and it will not solve all of the issues for September. This will require legislation certainly but also on the groundwork area by area identifying places in special classes and special schools."
Labour TD Duncan Smith said that the legislation would "probably not" mean suitable school places in September for the 100 children who are currently without.
"All this is happening as an emergency piece of legislation at the start of July 2022 because we are and have been failing when it comes to providing special needs education. I am not just talking about pupils who do not have spaces for the coming September.
"There are 15,500 children and young people forced to leave their catchment areas, some travelling over 100km, to access education. We heard of a number of different cases over the past number of weeks."
