Léiríonn tuarascáil an Ombudsman teip iomlán an Rialtais áiteanna scoile a chur ar fáil do pháistí agus do leanaí a bhfuil riachtanais speisialta acu. Tá gníomh éigeandála de dhíth anois le cinntiú go mbeidh áit scoile ag gach páiste sa Stát i mí Mheán Fómhair. The Ombudsman for Children has released a scathing report of the Government's failure on children with special needs who cannot secure appropriate school places come September. Mr. Muldoon was very clear regarding the seriousness of the situation. He said the situation is "a clear failure on the part of the State, which has an obligation to respect, protect and fulfil the right to education of every child." The Ombudsman went further. He said the failure to provide children with special needs with an appropriate school place is discrimination.

As things stand there are hundreds of children with special needs who do not have an appropriate school place. Today, on 23 June, we have parents who do not know whether their child will have a place in a school come September. It is scandalous that children with special needs and their parents are treated in such a way. The failure of the Government to plan for the school places needed happens year in year out. We can speak about the statistics all day but behind all of these numbers are human stories of stress, worry and heartbreak. Take Aaron's story for example. He is 12 years old and has a dual diagnosis of autism and intellectual disability. This was identified in his early years. He went on to early intervention, preschool and a special school. Recently he graduated from his special school. He has no place to progress to in September. He is 12 years of age with nowhere to go. Aaron's mother said that in her opinion the Department of Education and the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, did not engage in forward planning to ensure Aaron and his classmates had a right to education that was guaranteed. She said that even if he was accepted now there would be no opportunity for a transitionary programme for him to familiarise with the new school environment. She said that Aaron is confused about his future.

Unfortunately, Aaron's story is not isolated. There are children and families the length and breadth of the State who are in the same situation, particularly in blackspots such as Cork, Dublin and the midlands. We know the courts have ruled that the failure to provide children with special needs an appropriate school place is a breach of their legal rights yet every year we are faced with this appalling situation. The Department scrambles for school places and parents and their children are left in the lurch. It is a result of a complete failure to plan on the part of the Government. It is even more frustrating when we consider that the NCSE has the data and information to get this right but here we are once again.

This is an emergency for every one of these children and their families. Children with special needs and their families need action and they need it now. The Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, who accepts, in fairness, that this is discrimination by the State, has thrown out a few possible solutions but there is still real confusion as to what will happen. The section 37A process, which takes 13 months, needs to be shortened to guarantee an appropriate school place for these children in September. There are three weeks left in the Dáil term. Will the Government pass emergency legislation to make sure this happens? Sinn Féin will support the Government in trying to meet this objective.

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue, which I know is causing a lot of angst and worry to families throughout the State, including in my constituency of Dublin West. I have read the Ombudsman's report. The Government accepts the criticisms being made. We are committed to ensuring that every single child with special educational needs has access to education. One child who does not have a school place is one child too many in our view. We are prioritising children who have special educational needs. We have a dedicated Minister of State for special education for the first time and €1 in every €4 spent on education is spent on children with special needs. We have more special needs assistants, special education teachers and more special classrooms in mainstream schools than ever before. We have new special schools in Dublin 15 and in Cork. I absolutely appreciate this is cold comfort, indeed no comfort at all, to families and children who do not have a place for September. Every day that goes by they get more and more worried about what will happen in September when they need a school place.

I know the Minister of State is redoubling her efforts with the Department to make sure this is sorted out in the next few weeks so that parents have peace of mind that their child will have a place in school in September. This is absolutely what we are working towards. I am not aware of any plans at present for special legislation on this but I will take on board the Deputy's offer of full co-operation from Sinn Féin should it be required. As I mentioned, this year we will spend in excess of €2 billion, 25% of the Department's budget, on special needs. This is a 60% increase over the past ten years. Budget 2022 provided for the creation of 287 additional special classes for the school year. These will provide 1,700 new places from September next. This is a very significant increase in places. The difficulty is that the projection has been exceeded and 1,800 additional places in 312 special classes will be needed in 2022.

I thank the Tánaiste for his response. I am surprised by his commentary that there are no plans for emergency legislation. This highlights the fact the members of the Government are not speaking to each other. The Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, is on the record as saying she has spoken to the Attorney General in the context of emergency legislation. We need emergency legislation. The Tánaiste is absolutely right that his words and statistics are cold comfort and no comfort to any family. Today there are 106 children who do not know whether they will have a school place in September. Aaron's mother nailed it on the head. Even if they get a place children with autism must go through a transitionary programme. It is crucial that the children know the surroundings and have familiarity with the school they will enter. Sometimes they need to meet the teachers beforehand. This year again we have a failure to plan. How many years will we have to listen to Ministers accept the State is involved in discrimination against children with special needs? How many years will we have to hear Ministers and Tánaistí stand up to say it is wrong and they are hoping to get it right? This has been going on for years. We on this side of the House are willing to assist the Government to bring forward emergency legislation. The Ombudsman's report makes it very clear that section 37A is not fit for purpose. The process is too long. Let us bring forward the powers necessary to make sure every child has a school place in September.

I thank the Deputy. Again, I welcome the offer of co-operation should special or emergency legislation be needed. We will probably be able to find places for the 100 children or so without the need for legislation but if it is required to do it then it should be done. I know from my engagement with the NCSE and the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, that they have revised the way they project the number of places needed. They are confident that in future years we will not end up with the problem we have had in recent years where there has been an underprojection of the needs and demands.

The Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, has initiated the section 37A process for the third time. The process is now under way. She has formed an opinion that there is insufficient primary school special class capacity and special schools capacity in Dublin. The second stage of the process is now complete. Following its engagement, the NCSE will provide a detailed report on the matter to the Minister of State. This will consider existing provision, any relevant proposed building works and which schools may be able to provide additional provision. In preparing the report the legislation requires that the NCSE consults with school patrons, national parent bodies, school management bodies and teacher unions.

The Minister of State has asked that this be done as quickly as possible because it is an emergency situation.

Later this afternoon, my colleague, Deputy Ó Ríordáin, will introduce Labour's autism Bill, which would create a coherent framework for addressing the needs of children with autism. The need for this sort of legislation has become patently clear in recent weeks and months. That need has been clear for a long time for the parents of children with autism who have been waiting for so long to see proper and effective provision made for their children.

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of attending a training session involving Ranelagh Rockets, the brilliant initiative of the Ranelagh Gaels GAA club in my area which works with children with autism and provides one-on-one coaching. However, I heard there, as we have all heard throughout the country, about the immense anguish and frustration that many parents are experiencing because they cannot secure appropriate school places for their children and as a result of the immense delays involved. These issues were highlighted just this week in the report of the Ombudsman for Children, which indicates that the Department of Education is failing children with special educational needs. The ombudsman estimates that as many as 15,500 children have to travel outside their local catchment areas every day because there is nowhere available for them in their communities.

We all know the parents. On RTÉ just yesterday, we heard the story of Gareth, a young boy from Athlone who is finishing primary school next week but who cannot secure a secondary school place near him because he is autistic. His mother, Michelle, spoke powerfully about the toll that this has taken on her child. He has stopped attending class altogether because he feels that there is just no point. He is not alone. Some estimates indicate that nearly 270 children in Ireland are without school places for this coming September. We know many more who are waiting for diagnostic assessments to allow them to qualify for school places in the first instance. We are approaching the end of the primary school year. We are approaching the end of June, and we are only beginning to hear now about processes being invoked by the Minister and the Government.

The Ombudsman for Children's report was prompted by the actions of parents. The great group, Involve Autism D6 & D6W & Surrounds, is based in my constituency. Its chairperson, Miriam Kenny, has spoken out powerfully about how the group had to lodge a complaint with the ombudsman to get things moving. That complaint was lodged because of the lack of autism classroom places in Dublin 6 and Dublin 6W despite the existence of the section 37A process.

It is simply not good enough for parents and children to hear that processes are now being invoked this late in the school year and to still lack any clarity or certainty about whether they will be able to attend school anywhere near where they live this September or whether they will be able to attend school at all. The Ombudsman for Children's report is clear that the current failures in the system amount to discrimination against children with special educational needs, especially those with autism. We know that other jurisdictions do so much better than us. They have proper planning in place and they know the numbers of places required. We are failing children. Is the Tánaiste in a position to give any clarification as to school places for those awaiting them?

As stated earlier, I have had the chance to read the ombudsman's report. The Government accepts the criticisms that are being made. The report acknowledges some of the changes that have been made in the past two years, especially with regard to future planning. Use of such planning will mean that in future years we will not face the problems we have been facing for the past couple of years whereby parents do not know if there is a place available for their child until very late in the day. That is not acceptable, and it is something we are working on. We very much have an emergency situation in which approximately 100 children do not have school places - as yet - for this September.

I am always reluctant to discuss individual cases in the Dáil but I understand that in Gareth's case, an additional special class is now being provided in Athlone. That will be an option for him. I hope that will resolve that issue to the satisfaction of his parents.

I look forward to seeing Deputy Ó Ríordáin's legislation. We will, of course, give it special consideration. Perhaps it can be considered by the new special committee on autism that has been established under the chairmanship of Senator Carrigy.

With regard to the wider issue raised by Deputy Doherty earlier in terms of emergency legislation, section 37A is currently being reviewed within the context of the review of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 - the EPSEN Act - to establish whether the process can be streamlined to ensure that sufficient specialist places can be made available in a more efficient manner. The review is being conducted by way of engaging with those who are part of the process, including the NCSE, Department officials and schools, in order to take into account the cases where section 37A has been used and the effectiveness for the child. In addition, the advisory group for the overall EPSEN Act review will have an opportunity to submit its views.

The Department is separately considering whether there is a need to introduce new emergency legislation to assist in securing additional special educational needs provision. The Department has engaged with the Office of the Attorney General to discuss this matter. This work will consider whether new legislation would assist in expediting the existing section 37A process.

I thank the Tánaiste for the response in respect of the individual case I raised. Again, however, this will be an immense source of frustration for parents who in so many cases have been forced to go public and to air private issues around their children in order to secure what should be the right of each child. It is simply not good enough to hear that the Attorney General's advice is being sought and that amendments of the section 37A process are being considered. This is too little, too late for those who are currently unclear as to whether their child will have a school place or even an appropriate school place for this September.

Even where we see provision made, the lack of wraparound supports and the additional measures necessary is very evident. I had the pleasure of visiting St. Francis Special School in Portlaoise earlier this week. I heard about the need, even there, for the additional supports to be present. I am also conscious that with regard to special needs assistants, SNAs, the exceptional review process is simply not working as it should. I pay tribute to Fórsa's campaign to ensure decent recognition of the immensely important work that SNAs do in providing those additional supports. We are continuing to fail children because we cannot provide them with certainty and clarity about availability of school places and because of the immense delays in diagnosis in the first place.

I appreciate both of the Deputies raising this matter and the sincerity of their concerns with regard to it. As already stated, it is something we are committed to improving and resolving as soon as possible in order that children and families who do not have a place for September will know that they have one, as soon as possible.

In the context of the various therapy supports which the Deputy mentioned, I am a big advocate of providing these in schools rather than through the HSE. It is much better if therapists are in and employed by schools and are present on-site, perhaps shared among schools, rather than being off-site with the HSE because that inevitably leads to children ending up on waiting lists. We are working on this at the moment, and I understand that a pilot project is in place.