Yesterday during Leaders' Questions, I raised specific questions about the provision of special school places for children. I asked how many children are waiting on a place and whether every child will be guaranteed one. In Dublin alone, 80 children are waiting for a special class, with many more in the rest of the country. I got no acceptable answer yesterday from the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, even with the Minister of State with responsibility for special education in the Chamber, speaking into his ear during Leaders’ Questions.

Overnight, we learned from leaks to The Irish Times of new plans to create emergency special school centres. We do not have any detailed public information about what is planned but the Minister of State hastily confirmed the proposal last night in a series of response tweets. This is no way to make major public announcements, specifically on areas so sensitive and important. We do not know whether these are school buildings or prefabs or what type of facility is proposed. This is causing significant concern and distress for parents fighting for a place for their child. They know all too well that these short-term, segregated solutions will quickly become the accepted norm. There has been no consultation with advocacy groups about these plans, although I understand consultation has been hastily arranged.

What was reported in The Irish Times is that this is an interim, emergency solution for five special educational needs centres to be created in Dublin as a stopgap measure. The language is appalling. They will open in September and there will be four special classes, with a total of 24 pupils in each. They are to be managed by the education and training board, ETB, working with the Department of Education and the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, for children without a place in a mainstream school. This is totally at odds with what the Minister of State announced last week when she said would use section 37A powers to increase the number of places in schools for children who have additional needs. Her statement of last Thursday said clearly that the preferred solution was that schools would proactively open special classes. In a tweet posted last Tuesday, she stated:

At this point in time, I am of the view that I have no other option but to issue Section 37a notices to schools in areas which desperately require additional SEN school places across the country.

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This new policy direction is a necessary step to try and ensure that every child gets the supports they need and access to a school placement.

Now we are being told of a totally different, emergency approach that allows schools that do not get their act together to get off the hook. For a child with additional or complex needs, it is completely unacceptable that an emergency solution like this will be the fallback position when it will have such far-reaching consequences. As Adam Harris of AsIAm has highlighted, these emergency centres may end up as special schools without the opportunity for children to integrate with their peers, and he has questioned whether there will even be pathways into special classes.

It is time to tell parents awaiting places for their children what is really going on. Has the Government abandoned plans to secure places in mainstream schools through section 37A orders? Why was there no consultation in advance of leaking this? Will the Tánaiste confirm the details of these emergency centres?

I reiterate the Government is absolutely committed to upholding the right of children with special educational needs to have a good education, a quality education and one that is provided in their community. Our policy is one of integration. If we are going to have an integrated society, we have to start with integrated schools, and as much as possible, children with special or additional needs should be integrated in mainstream schools and classes. What we try to do is provide education in mainstream classes with the help of a special needs assistant, SNA, where necessary special classes in mainstream schools and, on occasion when it is necessary, as is the case sometimes, special schools or home tuition.

Last night, I attended a meeting with people from Dublin 15 in my constituency, and we were able last night to confirm 22 additional places in special classes in four schools in Dublin 15. We were short 17 places and we were able to find an additional 22. The Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, was at the meeting and managed to achieve the co-operation of schools in securing that outcome. It was later in the day than anyone would have liked but that is the policy we are pursuing: additional SNAs to help children in mainstream classes and additional special classes in mainstream schools where possible.

There is now a Minister of State with responsibility for special education. It was my initiative to create that post. Similar to the Minister with responsibility for children and the Minister of State with responsibility for disabilities, those roles did not always exist. We created the post specifically because this area is important. The budget for special education is €2 billion a year, so for every €4 we spend in schools now, €1 goes on special education. That is not far off double what it was in the past. There are more special needs assistants than ever before, heading for 20,000, and there are more special education teachers than ever before. Just in the past year, we have established 300 additional special classes in mainstream schools, which demonstrates the Government's commitment to children with special educational needs and the policy of Minister of State and the Government in that regard.

There is going to be a meeting today, as the Deputy mentioned. I think it was scheduled for around 12 o'clock and it may well be under way. It is to consult the sector and people who are affected about options and ideas to bridge the gap, where there is one, in providing special classes in mainstream schools. That is the policy, and where it cannot be achieved, home tuition is and remains an option. The Minister of State has indicated her willingness to use section 37A where necessary to require schools to establish new special classes. That power was first used by the then Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy McHugh, a number of years ago, and the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, is willing to use it where necessary to require schools to provide more special classes.

What the Minister of State said last week was not there was a willingness to use section 37A but that this was a new policy direction and that it was going to be the direction of Government policy, not that there was a willingness to use it as a last resort, as now seems to be the case. I welcome the news for those Dublin 15 families and children who have places, and it is great to have a Tánaiste in a constituency who can bring out the Minister of State to resolve the issue, but would that happen in Dublin 1, Dublin 2, north County Dublin or counties Donegal, Cork or Wicklow? This is a nationwide crisis.

As to what was announced last night, I still do not have the answer to whether these are going to be prefabs, whether there will be pathways to mainstream schools, how these are going to function, what they are going to look like and what distance these children are going to have to travel. This still seems like one of the most brainless, out-of-touch policy responses to a real crisis that has existed here for many years. I am not satisfied, as I was not yesterday. We are not satisfied with the Tánaiste's response. We need answers to those questions. What are these schools going to look like? Will there be real pathways for these children?

I thank the Deputy. I think he said earlier that language is important and that is right. Perhaps the language used yesterday was not the best. No parent wants to be told his or her child is being offered a stopgap solution. I particularly do not like the use of the term "autism centre" because it sounds othering. It sounds like children are going to be bussed away to a special place set away from other children and the rest of society and put in some sort of special centre, and I do not like that either. Perhaps the language used last night was not the right language. It certainly has been badly received by parents and by advocates in the sector and I hear that and I get that. That is why there is a meeting happening today to consult people about solutions and again making it very clear what we are aiming for is children with special needs being educated in mainstream classes. Where that cannot be done we want to have special classes in mainstream schools and 300 of those have been established only in the past year. It is a very big increase in the provision of special education.

The Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, is willing to use section 37A to require schools to establish more mainstream classes where they do not. Where it is not possible we then need to talk about what the options are and home tuition remains an option in that regard.