Parents in Kildare 'struggling' to find special education for their children, Dáil told

A Fine Gael TD for Kildare North has raised in the Dáil the issue of special education classes for children in the north county.

Specifically, Deputy Joe Neville told the Minister for Education and Youth, he has received “many” emails, calls and texts from concerned parents in towns such as Kilcock, Celbridge, Leixlip, Maynooth and Naas.

Parents in these towns are “struggling” to find special education for their children, he told Deputy McEntee.

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Deputy Neville said: “This Government has promised to increase the number of special schools and special classes across the country.

“I acknowledge the work that has been done so far, with an extra 399 new special education classes for the upcoming academic year. However, my constituency of Kildare North will only benefit from nine of those places.

“Considering the major population increase we have had in north Kildare, will the Department of Education and Youth consider that a catch-up is required in constituencies such as mine and supply adequate numbers of special classes in the towns I mentioned in order to ensure every child has access to suitable education in their local community?”

The Minister responded: “I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. He and I live in commuter towns. The populations in such towns have grown significantly in recent years.

“What is most important is that the services respond to those increases in population and that we forward plan insofar as is possible.”

Deputy McEntee stated that in recent years, and “particularly this year”, 15 new special classes have been sanctioned for County Kildare.

She said that this will add to the 131 classes that are already in place and that support about 760 children.

The new classes, she added, will provide capacity for 90 students in both primary and post-primary.

In addition, there are six special schools that support 360 children.

The Minister added: “As the Deputy has mentioned previously, there are three building projects that are progressing. These will provide extra school capacity within the areas in question. Those projects relate to Sapling Special School, Stepping Stones and the school in Craddockstown.

“The most important thing we can do now is make sure that where a need is identified, we plan for it at the earliest stage possible and look not just at the next year but also the years ahead. I will work with the Deputy to ensure we identify that need and plan accordingly.”