I pay tribute to Miriam Lord and acknowledge the huge contribution she has made to Irish journalism. On behalf of the Social Democrats, I wish her all the best for the future.

Tá ceart rochtana ag gach páiste ar an oideachas. Ní féidir leis an Rialtas dearmad a dhéanamh ar an gceart oideachais atá ag páistí le riachtanais bhreise. Last night, Virgin Media broadcast a devastating documentary about special education in this country.

Anyone who watches it will be left asking serious questions. How can the Government stand over children with additional needs being educated in a storage cupboard? How can it stand over children in distress being sent to a converted toilet to regulate? How on earth could this be allowed to happen? The documentary showed how some children with additional needs, their families and schools are being comprehensively failed by this Government. It showed how they must spend their lives in a constant fight for services, equipment, resources and an education. Every waking moment is spent fighting with a State and Government that is supposed to be there to help them. The grim reality is that when they lose that fight, there are no consequences for anyone other than the children and the families themselves. There are no inquiries or investigations, just children and families who are left feeling alone, marginalised and isolated, trying to pick up the pieces.

One of the schools that featured last night was Stapolin Educate Together National School. I welcome its principal, Clodagh, and one of its special needs assistants, SNAs, Samantha, to the Public Gallery. I commend Clodagh, Samantha and everyone who is working in special education on their incredible dedication and commitment. The Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, himself visited Stapolin national school last year. He stood in the very storage cupboard where children with additional needs are being educated, so the remarks of a senior education Minister last night that this situation is not acceptable ring hollow.

Another school that featured in last night's documentary is in Ballintemple, in the Taoiseach's own constituency. The principal of the School of the Divine Child, Fiona Thomas, described how they are being starved of resources, and they are not being listened to by the Government. What we saw last night should shame the Taoiseach and everyone in his Government. That is why families were protesting outside the Dáil today. They are at their wits' end. They are tired of this Government's broken promises. They are tired of watching their children suffer and feeling helpless. They are tired of being ignored. They want the Taoiseach and his Government to take action. What does the Taoiseach have to say to them? Why is this Government continuing to fail children with additional needs and their families?

First, I did not see the programme yesterday evening. One has to be objective and there has to be balance in the assessment of any story. The last five years has witnessed extraordinary expansion and investment in special education, which the Deputy has ignored completely in his comments. There is no excuse for, and I do not accept in any way, any child being in a cupboard, a stairwell or whatever. The fact is there has been an 87% increase in the number of special education places in five years. It is quite extraordinary expansion. In the 2026-27 year, we now have 34,000 students who will be enrolled in special classes and special schools. That is an increase of 86% since 2020. There are about 4,324 additional special classes, up 136% since 2020. Staff numbers are up 43% since then. We now have 26,000 SNAs compared with what we had five years ago - I went through it here before - at nearly half that. We have 22,500 special education teachers. Sixteen new special schools have opened, with four opening in Citywest, Balbriggan, Bray and Monasterevin.

The Deputy mentioned the School of the Divine Child. I pleaded with its previous principal and board to move out to the Enable Ireland site in Wilton. It was a brand-new site adjacent to a wonderfully modern new therapeutic centre. The school refused. It was the obvious move that should have happened. The Department was ready to fully fund it. The existing facilities in the school at Lavanagh are not satisfactory at all. I know it very well. I do not accept the criticism on that front. It was a terrible mistake made in not availing of the opportunity to go to a new site next to therapeutic facilities with the Department fully funding it and so on. That site is still there. In fact, I was trying to get two special schools out there, including St. Gabriel's, and Enable Ireland had agreed. There was a dispute between Enable Ireland and the school board on the question. That was a mistake. I did not see the programme last night, but the outcome of that mistake is the facilities the children now have in the School of the Divine Child. That is my view and I hold to it very strongly. It is easy to pick out individual cases. The fact is there has been a very strong, comprehensive provision.

Regarding the parents notify system, I acknowledge that too many parents have to fight too often to get places.

The onus should be on the system, the NCSE and schools to facilitate parents who apply. The parents notify system has now allowed us to have significantly better planning. Again, there were people against that last summer. People were giving out that we had opened it in July. Close to 7,860 children applied through that process seeking a special education place. That is more than double the number seeking places in 2025. Again, we opened about 587 new special classes at the beginning of this month alone to deal with that. There is significant expansion and investment. There is also increased demand, but we are getting there earlier for parents in terms of them notifying us much earlier on and then us working hard to try to get special classes in place. I will come back to the school in Stapolin later.

It is welcome that the Taoiseach does not accept children getting taught in a storeroom, but that is happening. The reason it is happening is because his Department has told the schools to use every available space and the Department of education has failed to sanction additional classrooms that the schools are crying out for. This is not just one isolated school; it is happening in other places around the country. It is welcome that as Taoiseach he says it is not acceptable but what is he going to do to make sure it does not continue? When is he going to sanction the additional classrooms that the schools are crying out for? Can he give a commitment to this Dáil, and to the people, the parents and the children? On what date will no child be taught in a storeroom any more? What date can he give for that? When is he going to put a stop to it? When is he going to provide the funding for the additional classrooms so that children can be taught in the proper facilities that they deserve?

Already this year we allocated a further €646 million on top of €3 billion to cater for the extra demand in special classes and places for special education. We took that decision earlier this year when the full scale of the demand revealed itself through the parents notify system and we were not found wanting in coming up with close to €700 million to deal with that. We will continue to do that. The Deputy made the point about Stapolin national school. That is a new school. I think it moved into a new school building in 2023. It includes purpose-built special education facilities, two special classes, a central activity room, a sensory room and two quiet rooms. It also benefits from additional accommodation, including special education teaching rooms, a library, a multi-purpose room and so on. The school has applied for two additional classrooms. My understanding is that this is currently being considered by the Department's building unit. The vast majority of children who were originally on the waiting list have since secured placements in special classes within the local area or neighbouring areas in Dublin's northside.

Thank you, Taoiseach.

The Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, and the Minister, Deputy Naughton, are doing everything they possibly can, given the extraordinary expansion in the last two years of numbers. In the last two years alone, the numbers seeking places in special classes or in special schools is quite significant. Yes, as a result of that expansion and the awarding of special schools, there had been issues with creating physical space in a very short space of time to accommodate everyone-----

You should conclude, Taoiseach.

-----but every effort is being made and the funding has been put in place to underpin that effort.