While the Government and the Social Democrats debate the role of religion in schools, parents struggle to get a place in a special class in their local school, Independent Ireland TD, Ken O’Flynn’ has said.
“Parents have been consistent and clear: their priority is capacity, resources, and real support for children with additional needs,” he added.
He said that “for years, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have failed to address the most urgent pressures in our education system: the shortage of special school and special class places, and the lack of adequate supports, including Special Needs Assistants and access to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. These failures are occurring while families are already under intense strain from the cost of living crisis.”
And he accused the SocDems of letting the government off the hook by focusing elsewhere. “Instead of hammering the Government’s failures, the Social Democrats are letting the Government off the hook by focusing on their own ideological obsession with religion in schools,” he said.
Deputy O’Flynn also said that the Government’s announcement on 7 April of four new special needs schools — all located in Leinster — highlights a continuing disregard for rural Ireland.
“While any additional provision is welcome, families outside the east of the country are once again being left behind. Many already face long journeys to secure appropriate school places, and this imbalance is simply unacceptable,” he said.
“While Ministers and middle-class parties like the Social Democrats focus on ideological debates about Catholic patronage, parents across the country are struggling to find a place in a special class or a special school. That is the real emergency in our education system,” he added.
“Ireland needs practical, evidence-based solutions — not ideological campaigns. We should be expanding real choice in education and ensuring every child who needs additional support has a school place, no matter where they live,” the Cork TD said.