I have previously welcomed the substantial and much-needed increase in investment in special education. The establishment of additional special classes and autism spectrum disorder units and the provision of additional staffing resources are positive developments in the context of overall education provision in our country. More investment is needed to establish more special classes. I commend the work of the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, and the Minister, Deputy Naughton. The chief executive of the NCSE, John Kearney, and his colleagues are very determined to make more progress in this area.
The Taoiseach may recall that I have previously raised with him and with other members of the Government the existing inequity and the disadvantages suffered by smaller schools due to the difficulty they have in reaching the required enrolment threshold for special classes. As I pointed out previously, this inequity impacts severely on schools that are under the patronage of the smaller churches. Such schools generally have small enrolments. This enrolment threshold also impacts severely on other smaller schools which, in most instances, are located in what are rural and, sometimes, remote areas. We are all aware of children having to travel too far to access special classes. That is far from ideal for pupils or parents. I again appeal for the enrolment threshold to be amended. A new model of system for the establishment of special classes is needed now. It is necessary to properly support smaller schools and schools under the patronage of the Protestant and smaller churches. Those smaller schools want to cater for all their pupils in the best possible way. The legitimate interests of those schools must be addressed.
Children need to be facilitated with appropriate school placements as near to their homes as possible and, if at all possible, with their siblings. Regrettably, the current model has detrimental effects on our smaller schools. I am aware of instances where families who have a child in a special class in a larger school have transferred a sibling or siblings to that larger school. Pupils leaving their own catchment areas can impact on the viability of small schools in the longer term. I fully understand the strong and legitimate wish of parents to have their children attend the same primary school. There must be an alternative way to improve access to local schools. If additional resources are needed, they should be provided. In rolling out the much-needed additional investment in special education, the Department must ensure that those welcome decisions and measures do not cause problems in the long term for our smaller schools, in some instances threatening their very viability. We cannot emphasise strongly enough the need to have siblings attend the same school.
