I want to return to an issue I raised with the Taoiseach yesterday, namely, the crisis in special education. Last Friday, I joined a group of 50 parents, children and family members who had to resort to a 24-hour sleep-out in front of the Department of Education in Dublin in order to highlight the crisis they are experiencing. I heard harrowing stories of experiences from desperate parents who are frustrated and in despair at the battle they had on behalf of their children. One mother told me of a long waiting list to achieve an assessment of need for her three-year-old daughter. A grandmother told me about her daughter's battle to get a place in a special school for her son who is six years old. A march will take place in Cork city this weekend to protest at the same issue because this is a nationwide crisis.

We in Labour offer our full support and solidarity, as I know we all do, to those families in these situations. Securing a diagnosis through the public system for children takes years. Even achieving a diagnosis is no longer the answer it once was because access to therapies, the necessary treatments and school places is so difficult.

Yesterday, I asked the Taoiseach how he would ensure that every child who needs a school place or therapy will have access to that. I asked when the 14,000 children now waiting for an assessment of need will be seen. In response, he said, "We are working to see if we can ensure places for children next September", which is not exactly a wrought iron guarantee.

I would like to give the Taoiseach the opportunity today to say something more substantive on this because every year we hear these watery commitments. When the school year draws to a close, every year parents are left scrambling because there are no places for their precious children. A child's right to education is protected by the Constitution, but at least 118 children with additional needs have not received an offer of a school place anywhere this year. We know many more have had to take up inappropriate places or be bussed out of their communities because there is nowhere local to go.

The Journal reports that 1,274 children were moved to reduced school days in the past school year. Of that group, more than 80% of primary school pupils had special educational needs. Families need to hear from the Taoiseach how the Government will achieve access to places for their children come this September and, in particular, to reassure them that there will be enough staff in place to meet the level of need.

Yesterday, my colleague, Deputy Eoghan Kenny, asked the Taoiseach whether the Department of Education had a recruitment freeze on special needs assistants, SNAs. We have received multiple reports indicating that this is the case. School principals have been informed that they cannot have an SNA sanctioned for their schools because it seems the Department has outlined that new SNA positions will not be filled until September at the earliest. One school we know of has been refused a second special educational needs room, despite having a classroom lying empty, and the principal suspects it is because the Department does not want to pay for staff. Is there a de facto recruitment freeze on SNAs? If not, how can the Department justify delays and refusals? I again ask the Taoiseach when every child will have access to the school places and therapies they need.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue because it is very important and one I am determined to deal with in the short term. I want to ensure there is a proper system in the years to come whereby parents will know in the previous academic year where their child will attend second level for the subsequent academic year. Parents are going through too much in terms of endeavouring to find a school place or navigating the therapy support services that children require.

I will deal with the school places issue. First, the population growth in the number of children with special needs is significant. Funding has significantly increased. The number of additional places, teachers and SNAs has increased dramatically. That is no comfort or consolation to those parents who do not have a place or access to services, but it needs to be said.

We have established about 11 new special schools since 2020. This is the first Government in a long time that began to establish new special schools. There had been moves against special schools for ideological reasons and people felt that perhaps mainstream schools were more appropriate, but that stopped in the past couple of years. This coming school year, five more special schools will open.

I have spoken to the NCSE and the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, who has also been in touch with the ETB and the NCSE. There are problems in north and south Dublin and Cork county. There may be other problems outside of those areas, but there are particular issues in those locations. Suffice to say, we will have to increase the number of special schools and special classes.

There will be 400 extra special classes coming on board in the school year 2025-26. Some 218 have already been sanctioned in the past week alone and more will follow imminently. Staffing has increased by 27% since 2020. There are now 23,400 special needs assistants. There is no freeze on the recruitment of SNAs. There has been an increase of 32% in the number of SNAs since 2020. We have 20,800 special education teachers, an increase since 2020. I acknowledge that is poor consolation to those who do not have a school place. We will work flat out to ensure we do everything we possibly can to create spaces and new special schools between now and the end of this academic year to prepare for children coming in next September. No effort will be spared in securing places for children for whom places have not currently been identified.

Thank you, Taoiseach.

On the assessment of need, I said earlier that we are looking at the legislative framework. We will have to introduce legislation to deal with the issue around assessment of need.

I thank the Taoiseach for the response and saying so clearly that there is no freeze on SNAs. That is at odds with the experiences reported to us by principals. I would welcome a more detailed written response from the Taoiseach on that because we have been told there is a directive from the Department that amounts to an obstacle or blockage to the hiring by principals of the SNAs that are needed.

We all accept demographic change, but there is clearly a lack of planning from the Department because we know the numbers of children born each year and should be able to plan ahead for need.

That is what is frustrating parents. We heard from a parent in the midlands who has applied to 16 schools for their son, aged six, who should be going into senior infants in September but is still in preschool because there are no places available. The SENO now says that parent must apply to mainstream schools despite having a diagnosis stating the child must have access to a special school place.

These are the stories of desperately frustrated parents. We need to hear from the Government that there will be forward planning put in place to ensure there will be enough staff hired and enough places made available-----

The Deputy's time is up.

-----to ensure every child who needs a special school or class will have access to that.

There will have to be forward planning and that will be made clear to the agencies and the Department. There will have to be proper preparation in the coming years, looking at the demographics and the need and making sure there is a much more seamless system for parents and children with additional needs. That is the bottom line as far as I am concerned. Every child is entitled to an education. No school can be saying, "No". There must be far more proactivity out there as well. The NCSE is conscious of this and I have made it clear. I will be convening ongoing meetings with the relevant Ministers and agencies to ensure we address the increased demographic issues that arise with our increasing population. The census is very clear. There has been quite a significant change between the past two censuses in respect of those indicating disability within the general population, but particularly children with additional needs. I am not satisfied with the way things are now. I will be very open with the Deputy in that regard. This is a key priority for us. It is fundamental to me and to the House as well.