Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-24
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Jen Cummins (SD), Dublin South-Central

On Monday, Virgin Media will show a documentary about special education in this country. The sneak previews I have seen show there are still children without an appropriate school place. However, equally shocking is that those who do get a place in school are being educated in cleaners' rooms with no windows or natural light, or they are being educated under staircases in classrooms. On top of that, a regulation room in one of the schools shown has been put in a disabled bathroom. Thankfully, the caretaker blocked off the toilet, but this is the state of our education system.
The school I saw is Stapolin Educate Together National School, which is trying its best. When the Minister of State visited it before the end of the previous academic year, he told the school to use all available space, and it is. The school is oversubscribed and could fill two classes. What will this Government do to make sure this is not happening in 2026?

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Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-24/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:50+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-24