Minister Moynihan to meet East Cork parents in call for special school

Minister of state Michael Moynihan has said he will engage with a group of East Cork parents of children with additional needs on their call for a Youghal special school.

Social Democrats TD Liam Quaide raised the need for increased special education provision in Youghal with Mr Moynihan, explaining that he has been working with a parents’ campaign group in Youghal called Bridging the Gap.

He explained: “Youghal has just one secondary school, Pobalscoil na Tríonóide, which has somewhere between 1,100 and 1,200 students.

“At present, 22 children from the Youghal catchment travel to St John’s Special School in Dungarvan, County Waterford. For some children as young as five, their day starts with a bus leaving at 7.10am and they may not arrive at the school until almost 9am, after multiple stops.” He added that in the 2023-24 school year, €15.7m was spent in Cork by the State on taxis for children for journeys out of area.

John Phillips, one of the parents in the Bridging the Gap campaign group, explained that the one secondary school is a feeder school for 15 national schools but only has four special classes. This year they have places for 192 mainstream students and one student in the ASD classes.

“I know of someone who tried to keep their son back in an autism classroom in sixth class in the hopes something would come up. 

"If you think getting mainstream secondary places are bad, special places are like the poor relation.”

Their proposal to open a new special school at second level in Youghal would take pressure off the schools in Dungarvan and Carrigtwohill, and reduce the taxi spend, he said, adding: “It is our child’s right to be educated in appropriate settings in the community.”

Mr Moynihan said that he met with the group in March of this year and acknowledged: “We need to increase the capacity. We have challenges in relation to post-primary education. 

"Bridging the Gap in Youghal provided a very serious and coherent proposal to us. After October 1, when we will understand the need that is within the entire country, we will be making decisions on where the next number of special schools will be opened.

“We will be engaging with the group and we will be looking at the area but we have to understand the need as well.”