Special Educational Needs
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-24
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Mark Wall (LAB), Kildare South

I thank the Minister of State. I have no doubt of his commitment to helping the families because when I contact him, he always comes back to me. That is a sign of his commitment to the families that I and everybody in this House represent. The problem I have is that I have been told by the KWETB that, particularly in the 12 to 13 age bracket, these families could be waiting a very long time to get a special school place because the demand is so high. As I have said, this is a demand that I have highlighted in the Upper House and in this House for the past six years. That is why we were so enraged when the first school was put in Craddockstown. It is a wonderful school but now that we have a school in south Kildare, I ask the Minister of State to look at particular age bracket because that seems to be the biggest issue in relation to the school. I do not know how to advise the parents who have come to me, and I could name an awful lot more.
When the Minister of State talks about the contingency arrangements the NCSE is talking about, it is home schooling, and he knows that. That is what it has said to the parents when they contacted it. It has said it will provide home schooling for them. That means the children who have come so far over the past number of years in some primary settings have no hope because they are going back into a home school setting and those friendships and relationships they have developed, that social inclusion, is gone.
That is hugely distressing for their families. Maybe we could look at the contingency arrangements again. Maybe we could go back to parents and say that we are going to do more. Again, I do not doubt the Minister of State's bona fides on this because he has been very helpful to me with every case I have raised. However, I cannot go back to the parents of those pupils in south Kildare and tell them there is no hope, that there are no classrooms coming up for a number of years. That particular age bracket is full and there is no hope of anything coming but I ask again, can we just look at that age bracket, while we are looking in general?

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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