Seven-year-old special needs pupil forced to make four-hour round trip on bus

By Cate McCurry, PA

A seven-year-old child is forced to make a four-hour round trip on a bus to attend a special school in a neighbouring county because there are no facilities locally, the Dáil has heard.

Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald said parents of children with special needs in Co Monaghan have fought a long campaign to have a special school established in the county.

Co Monaghan is one of only two counties nationwide without a special needs school.

A number of parents, who formed local support group Special Needs Active Parents (Snap), attended Leinster House and watched proceedings from the public gallery.

Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys, Fine Gael TD for Cavan and Monaghan, said a review of demand for special education services is under way and will be completed in the late autumn.

“Parents of children with special needs must fight every day in every county, but surely you will agree that, in Monaghan, they’ve had to fight harder than most?” Ms McDonald said.

“For too long, Monaghan was one of the only counties without an overnight respite service for children, and it’s only in the last couple of weeks, thanks to the campaign of these families, that Monaghan now has an interim respite service.

“All the indications so far are that this service, welcome as it is, comes nowhere close to meeting demand.

“Children in Monaghan have to travel on a bus to the Holy Family School in Co Cavan, a great school by all accounts. I met one parent of a seven-year-old child who told me their child travels by bus two hours each way every day to get to that school. That’s not acceptable.

“At least one site has been offered as a potential location for the school, but your Government simply says that you are reviewing this situation, and you still haven’t stated the criteria for such a review.”

Ms Humphreys said special education is a “key priority” for the Government.

She said a quarter of the education budget is being spent on special education.

“For 2025, 2.9 billion will be spent on special education, an increase of 113 million,” she added.

“This will allow for, amongst other things, the opening of 400 new special classes in mainstream schools and 300 additional special school places.

“Since 2020, almost 1,700 new special classes and 11 special schools have been provided. An additional 768 special education teachers and 1,600 SNAs (special needs assistants) have also been provided, and this is the highest number of SNAs allocated.”

Ms Humphreys added: “I’m more than familiar with what’s going on in Monaghan. I know all about the Holy Family School. It’s an excellent facility. It was built on the border between Cavan and Monaghan to facilitate the needs of the people of the region.

“But in terms of the Monaghan special school, can I just say that four new classes have been confirmed, bringing the number of special classes in the county up to 46.

“Where additional school places are needed, the preference is generally to expand capacity in existing schools; however, consideration is being given to whether further new special schools, in addition to the 11 established or being established, are required in certain locations.

“The NCSE (National Council for Special Education) is examining known demand in areas, the distances children are traveling to special schools, and capacity in an area to expand special schools where they already exist.

“This work is ongoing and is expected to be substantially completed in late autumn. A number of regions are under consideration for special school provision, including Monaghan.”