Parents make case for special secondary school in East Cork town

East Cork parent group Bridging the Gap has called for a post-primary special school to be built in the area, as data shows there are considerably more children with autism in primary schools than there are places in the local secondary school.

The group last week presented a report to Oireachtas members based on data they compiled from parent surveys and by contacting the 15 schools in the locality, seven of which provided data.

They sought data from the Department of Education on the other eight schools, but were told the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) does not hold this information. 

As a result, they used the NCSE estimate that 5% of the mainstream school population are autistic/neurodivergent for the remaining schools.

Feeder schools

They found that, across the feeder primary schools, there were approximately 2,214 enrolled pupils, and 264 had autism. 

A total of 109 of these pupils were in special classes with 113 in mainstream classes, while a further 42 were awaiting assessment.

This equates to 11.9% of the total school population, considerably above the 5% rate used by NCSE, meaning autism prevalence in the catchment is significantly higher than national estimates.

Across the Youghal catchment area, there are 18 autism classes at primary level which feed into four autism classes in Pobalscoil na Tríonóide, the sole mainstream secondary school serving the area.

According to its published admission statement for the 2026/27 school year, the school has 192 places available in mainstream first year, but only one available place in its autism class provision for that intake year.

The group also noted that 35% of the 103 families surveyed already travel outside their locality for schooling, with some undertaking return journeys of up to 120km.

Negative impacts

Parents described significant negative impacts such as child exhaustion from long journeys; high anxiety and dysregulation due to travel; reduced capacity for homework and after-school activities; and siblings’ routines disrupted.

Their report also calculates the cost to the State of transport, escort provision, and potential home tuition grants, if a school place cannot be secured, and found the annual per-child cost for an out-of-area placement can be €50,000–€70,000 per child per year.

The data demonstrates that “maintaining the status quo is not cost-neutral” they said, describing the current system as a “high-cost, low-efficiency model.

Investment in a post-primary special school in Youghal would represent better value for public expenditure over time, they said.