Independent Ireland Leader Michael Collins TD has slammed the Government over its continued failure to provide adequate school places and supports for children with additional needs.
Deputy Collins said the situation facing families is continuing to deteriorate, with parents being forced to battle the State to secure the education their children need.
“The Government is failing children with additional needs and it is failing their parents,” he said. ““Parents should not have to spend months fighting the State just to secure a school place for their child.”
“These are children who need additional support. Instead, their families are being forced into a battle with the very State that is supposed to support them.
“Quite simply, the system is broken,” he said.
Deputy Collins said Government announcements about additional special classes and school places mean little if those places are not actually available, properly staffed and ready for children.
“A sanctioned place is not a school place. A promise is not a school place.
“Parents need a classroom, a teacher, SNAs and the supports their children require. They need it now, not at some point in the future.”
Deputy Collins said the Government has had years of warnings from parents and advocates about the growing crisis in special education.
“The Government has known this crisis was coming. Parents have been warning them for years.
“Yet we are still seeing families desperately searching for places and children being left in uncertainty.”
Deputy Collins called for the Government to immediately identify every child without an appropriate school place and publish a clear plan to accommodate them.
“No more hiding behind figures and announcements. No more passing the buck.
“These are children, not numbers on a spreadsheet.
“The Government needs to stop congratulating itself on plans and start delivering for families.
“Children with additional needs deserve better — and this Government is failing them.”