Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 6 Nov 2024

I thank the Minister of State for attending, but this shows how little interest the Minister for Education has in children with special needs. We are here to discuss Scoil Aonghusa in Cashel. It is a fantastic school of 150 students with complex special needs. In 2015, school management reached out to the Department concerning the capacity required to meet the growing population of children with special needs. The school purchased five acres like it was told to do to provide for the necessary expansion. Twelve modular classrooms were required at that point, but the Department, in its wisdom, stated that the school would get five precast classrooms. There has been a development in this regard, but I will revert to that later.

It is important to relate how the Department has treated the school and the children. It has been disgusting. Approval was given in March 2023, but the completion date was quickly thrown out to September, which was when the expansion would be needed. In its wisdom, the Department gave the school second-hand Portakabins costing €1.4 million from a school in Dublin and landed them in the middle of the school’s car park the week school was returning. We all know the disruption that can be caused when that happens.

The Department has been down in Cashel to discuss plans for the expansion it promised. The school and we want to know the commencement date and to be given a guarantee that it will happen. The more this drags on, the more it upsets everyone. The school has used the GP hall, a sensory room, the canteen and a hallway as classrooms because of heel dragging by the Department and, especially, the Minister over the past number of years. That needs to stop and the school needs clarity before we leave the Chamber today.

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this Topical Issue. I am annoyed, too. We have put this debate off a few times so that we might get the Minister for Education to attend, but she has steadfastly refused.

Déanaim comhghairdeas leis an Ms Siobhán Keyes Ryan, all the staff, the pupils, their families and the parents association, and the supporters of Scoil Aonghusa who fund-raise for it. It has gone beyond a joke that a special school and special children could be treated like this. It is typical of what happens under this Government. We think we will have a date today for the election, but we have no date for classrooms in Cashel. Cad a dhéanfaimid feasta gan adhmad? Cad a dhéanfaimid feasta gan na seomraí scoile i gCaiseal na Mumhan? When are the modular classrooms that were sanctioned by the Department going to be put in place? When will phase 2 of the planning application begin for the remainder of the modular classrooms, as promised? Most important of all, when will there be proper and meaningful engagement with the school’s principal, the wonderful Siobhán Keyes Ryan, her staff and the board of management? They are the enablers. They do powerful work. Some of them have been injured because of the unsuitable and dangerous conditions there. The Minister of State, on behalf of the Minister for Education, has a direct responsibility and duty of care to the staff agus na daltaí to ensure there is safety in the first instance. Some staff have been injured and gone out on assault leave. That is not good enough. We want these special children to be nourished and cherished. They are by their families and the school, and I could not say enough good things about the staff, but they are not by the Department of Education. Sadly, the Department is lacking. The Government has passed the Children First legislation, but it is not following it, and that is the most important priority of all.

When will the Minister, Deputy Foley, set out what the delay is in the Department giving approval for this school? It has gone beyond time and this is a serious issue. Deputy Martin Browne and I have joined together to raise it in the interests of the daltaí, staff and management of the wonderful institution that is Scoil Aonghusa.

I thank the Deputies for raising the matter, as it provides me with an opportunity to clarify on behalf of the Minister the current position regarding Scoil Aonghusa in Cashel, County Tipperary.

Enabling children with special educational needs to receive an education is a priority for this Government. It is also a key priority for the Department and the National Council for Special Education, NCSE. The vast majority of children with special educational needs are supported to attend mainstream classes with their peers. Where children with more complex needs require additional supports, special classes and special school places are provided. For 2024, €2.7 billion is being spent on special education, an increase of €113 million, and this is dedicated to providing supports for children with special educational needs. This will allow for, among other things, the opening of up to 400 new special classes in mainstream schools and 300 additional special school places. This level of educational funding and support is unprecedented and represents in excess of 27% of the Department of Education’s total allocation for 2023.

Scoil Aonghusa is a co-educational special school under the patronage of Tipperary Association for Special Needs. Enrolments at the school in September 2023 were 150 pupils and the school has a current staffing of a principal plus 24 special class teachers.

The National Council for Special Education has responsibility for co-ordinating and advising on the education provision for children nationwide. The Department and the NCSE are working closely on a more streamlined and joined-up planning process to ensure a targeted approach to meet demand for special needs placements ahead of each new school year and are committed to delivering an inclusive educational environment for all pupils. The Department and the NCSE continue to work closely in planning for the delivery of the new places required to meet forecasted demand.

Since 2020, the Department has invested more than €5 billion in our schools throughout the country, involving the completion of over 950 school building projects and construction currently under way at approximately 350 other projects, including 37 new school buildings. Those 350 projects involve a total State investment of more than €1.5 billion. The Department announced earlier this year that close to 90 projects, including 28 new school buildings, would be authorised to proceed from tender stage to construction over the course of 2024 and early 2025. In total, approximately €800 million will be invested in these projects under the Department’s large-scale capital programme and additional accommodation scheme for essential classroom accommodation. Between projects currently under construction and projects moving to construction in this latest phase, investments by the Department of Education are adding more than 550,000 sq. m of new and modernised capacity to our school estate. This is a record level of investment in school buildings and will expand the number of school places, significantly increase provision for special education and upgrade and modernise our school infrastructure. The impact of this will be felt in communities right around the country.

Regarding Scoil Aonghusa Special School, the Department is assessing options with a view to identifying the optimum solution for the school's long-term accommodation needs. The Department has approved the provision of modular accommodation of four classrooms to cater for immediate needs. Departmental officials are also engaging with the school as part of the assessment process for the school’s longer term accommodation needs with a view to making the most appropriate provision possible for the school and for its current and future students.

The Minister of State can talk all he likes about priorities, but this is not a priority. The Government has let down Scoil Aonghusa and other schools. There are 150 pupils in the school. Ms Keyes Ryan and all the staff should be applauded for what they are doing. They have to teach the children in hallways, staff rooms and the sensory room. The Minister of State referred to four extra classrooms for Scoil Aonghusa, but the school has stated that it needs 16. Four is no good to them.

During the week, the Minister spoke about an extra special school earmarked for Tipperary. We requested information but got nothing back from her. What we want to know is whether she was referencing the work being done at Scoil Aonghusa. If so, that is not a new school, but a pre-existing promise from the Government. I know we are giving out to the Minister of State, but why should any commitments given today be believed? Before the day is out, we want to have a commencement date from the Minister and the Department for the 16 classrooms that Scoil Aonghusa needs to provide special needs education in Cashel. We do not want more promises or written speeches.

I am extremely disappointed to hear the Minister of State read out another waffle from the Department. The Department is currently assessing the options. Just imagine that. I have a document here from December 2022, when the Department promised 12 modular classrooms to deal with the accommodation. In February 2023 the Department of Education changed it and listed five modular classrooms, citing a planning issue. In March 2023 approval was received for five modular classrooms to be ready for September 2023. Where are we now? In the dying days of this Government and indeed 2024. In June 2023 there was confirmation that these modular classrooms would not be on-site by September 2023. I understand the school has not received any engagement to date as to when the modular classrooms are going to be built. It is scandalous. I thought the Minister of State was going to have answers today. I protested yesterday when the Minister was not coming and we were told the Minister of State would have the answers. He has no answers. The Department is assessing it. How can the Department and the Minister stand over this? Special children, daoine óga speisialta, have been treated like this. We actually need a new special needs school in Clonmel, our capital town, for the special children in south Tipperary, but that is not for today. Today it is about Cashel. Scoil Aonghusa, Ms Keyes Ryan and her excellent team, both teachers and carers, need to be supported. Above all they need certainty, not to be looking into a black hole of moving paper, assessments and more assessments.

I thank the Deputies for raising this issue and giving me an opportunity to outline the position of the school. The Department of Education continues to provide very significant funding in support of the education of children with special educational needs, which is a priority for this Government, with over a quarter of the entire education budget dedicated to special education in recent years. The Department and the NCSE continue to work closely together to plan strategically to meet the needs of children with special educational needs, including those with complex needs who require a special school placement. The Deputies should be assured that the identification of the optimal accommodation solution for the school is a priority for the Department, and the Department will be in further discussion with the school as soon as it has reviewed all options for its future accommodation needs. This process will be completed as soon as possible.