Independent Ireland TD for Cork North Central Ken O’Flynn has accused the National Council for Special Education of rowing back on its own words after it was asked to state how many children are waiting for a special education placement.
In a reply to a parliamentary question earlier this year, the NCSE referred to children being tracked on “our database”.
When Deputy O’Flynn asked whether that meant a countable record of unplaced children exists, and why the number was not given, the NCSE replied that its earlier references should not be read as indicating a live record of children who need a placement or who are still seeking one.
The NCSE also confirmed that it does not keep a national register of children who may need a special class or special school place, and that there is no centralised process to measure demand at county or national level.
“Earlier this year the NCSE told me children were tracked on its database. Now that I have asked for the number, I am told that database does not count the children waiting at all,” Deputy O’Flynn said.
“You cannot plan places for children you refuse to count. The NCSE sanctioned 63 new special classes in Cork to meet what it calls identified need, yet it now tells me it has no way of measuring that need. Both of those things cannot be true.”
Deputy O’Flynn pointed out that the NCSE runs its own Parents Notify process, under which parents seeking a special class or special school place for September 2027 had to notify the Council by 1 September 2026 and submit supporting documents by 15 September.
“Every one of those families has formally told the NCSE their child needs a place. That is a dated list sitting in the NCSE’s own system. The reply does not mention it once. Parents in Cork are entitled to know how many children are on it and how many will actually get a seat in a classroom.”
Deputy O’Flynn has tabled further parliamentary questions seeking the number of Parents Notify notifications received by county, the number of Cork children who held a Letter of Eligibility for this school year but had no place on 1 October, and the basis on which Cork’s new classes were sanctioned.
“I will keep asking until families get a number, not a description of why the number cannot be given,” the party Chairperson said.