Taoiseach addresses concerns of Laois parents on special needs education shortages

Taoiseach Simon Harris has addressed Laois parents' urgent demands for more special needs school places.

On the same night that distressed parents met in Portlaoise over the dire shortage of special needs classes in the town, the Taoiseach was touring the MDA community business hub in Mountmellick with Fine Gael election candidate Cllr Willie Aird and a big entourage of local party supporters. 

The Leinster Express / Laois Live asked him what he will do about the shortages of special needs places and of mainstream primary places in Portlaoise, as well as the lack of ASD units in Laois secondary schools. 

The Taoiseach referred then to Kolbe Special School and St Francis School, the former which cater for all local children with moderate to severe special needs, the latter for children with moderate learning disabilities, up to 18 years. Both are out of class spaces.

“I’m very concerned to see that you have a school here in Laois that’s trying to do incredible things for people with additional needs and is willing to do more. They’re making a very fair point and they need temporary accommodation granted in the short term. 

“Secondly they need a fast track to their permanent build on the greenfield site. I’m going to do everything I possibly can to make sure both things happen.

“When it comes to special education needs, we really need to do an awful lot better. I know from family experience, it’s something I’m very passionate about. Since I’ve become Taoiseach only a number of months ago, I’ve really tried to take a hands on approach to this.

“I want to assure parents in Laois and the teachers in that school that I will work with them, and work with Willie Aird to make progress, I genuinely mean that.

“On school places, only a couple of weeks ago we allocated a significant amount of extra capital funding to education that should enable them to now move forward on a number of school building projects. 

“That is including here in Laois and I’m very happy to follow up with individual principals or indeed parents in relation to the issue of school places. 

“We have allocated now I believe adequate money to get that building project underway,” the Taoiseach said.

On secondary schools, he said he is frustrated himself at the lack of planning. 

“I’ve just established a forward planning unit in the Department of Education. I even feel frustrated in saying that as to why there wasn’t one before. It should be as obvious as night follows day that if a child is six or seven well one day they’re going to be 13 or 14 and need a secondary school place as well. 

“I don’t think the system has done enough to forward plan for the transition points in a child’s life. Whether that’s from preschool to primary, primary to secondary, or indeed to third level. Particularly for children with additional educational needs. 

“So we have a new structure in place now. We’ve hired a lot more special education needs organisers, SENOs, to work with the National Council for Special Education, we need to take the pressure off parents. This idea that parents have to ring around a load of schools to try and find a place. 

“We need to shift the burden back to the state now, and SENO needs to identify those places. And they need to do it at a much earlier age. These conversations should be happening with families when the child is nine or ten, not when they are weeks away from moving to secondary school,” Taoiseach Simon Harris said.