Here’s the speech and reply I received in the Dáil on Thursday about the special unit in the Castleknock Educate Together School for children with autism. The unit is a much-needed facility for the area but its opening has been delayed repeatedly, which is very frustrating and disappointing for all involved.
A new specialist unit for children with autism has now been lying idle for a number of months in the Castleknock Educate Together School in Dublin 15. Like many other parts of Ireland, Dublin 15, Castleknock, Blanchardstown, Mulhuddart and Clonsilla have a significant number of children with autism.
When the Department of Education decided with the agreement of the Castleknock Educate Together School to include a special unit for the education of children with autism, there was general delight at the development of this service. The special facility is now built as part of the new permanent school, opened earlier this month in a big celebration by the Minister for Education and the Minister for Justice. It has a special purpose-built unit with spaces for two classes of six children, a playground, shower facilities, special rooms for therapists. It seems extraordinary that in the context of the crisis in relation to the numbers of children needing services in respect of autism that this wonderful resource should now be lying idle.
The school community at Castleknock Educate Together, the teachers, patrons and parents are all anxious to see this facility up and running. There are many children in the area who would benefit hugely from these services and who are currently facing two two-hour commutes per day to very distant services all over Dublin and in some cases to Co. Meath.
It appears that disputes between the Department of Education and the HSE over financial contributions to resourcing the staffing of the centre are at the heart of the failure to open this facility. Minister, is it true that Beechpark, which provides services for autism, is ready and willing to take over responsibility for the specialist service provision for this unit including the selection of the children and the provision of ancillary specialist help such as therapists? Beechpark is under the control of the HSE so can the Department of Education actually talk to the HSE and sort it out between the two bodies?
The Department of Education have indicated on a number of occasions that they are ready to open the unit. But the key question is whether the government and the Minister for Education are prepared to resource the unit appropriately.
The bulk of the money for the unit has in fact already been spent in building such a lovely facility. It’s an awful pity to see it lying idle, particularly when there is such need. Can the Minister say if the negotiations with the school about resourcing and opening have been concluded, and can she say definitively when the unit will open? Castleknock Educate Together waited 7 years for a permanent building. The Board and the school community very positively sought and welcomed this facility.
The idea behind this special unit is that children with autism could get the special attention and services they require, while being fully integrated into the national school. This seems to me a really positive development in Irish education. It is unclear however, what the Department of Education proposes in relation to these units and what their educational philosophy and policy towards the units is. The Department itself so far has issued no detailed guidelines, provided no additional resources and has not as yet offered any additional or special training for the primary teachers in the school who will want to work in the unit.
It is difficult to envisage a situation where the Minister expects an ordinary primary school to open up a specialist unit without some additional resourcing and provision.
So can the Minister specify what exactly the department proposes to do and when can we see the facility being opened?
Deputy Brendan Smith TD replied: I thank Deputy Burton for raising this issue. I will be replying on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Mary Hanafin.
The House will be aware of the commitment to ensuring that all children, including those with autism, receive an education appropriate to their needs. I therefore welcome the opportunity to discuss the opening of the special classes for autism in Castleknock Educate Together School in Dublin 15.
As the Deputy will be aware, the preferred approach of the Department of Education and Science is that children with autism receive the appropriate education through the primary and post-primary school network. I am pleased to report that in the past year alone more than 75 autism-specific classes were sanctioned by the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, to cater for pupils with autism, bringing the total now sanctioned to more than 275. A specific function of the NCSE, through its network of local special educational needs organisers, SENOs, is to identify appropriate educational placement for all children with special educational needs. I can confirm that the SENO with responsibility for the school in question has approved staffing for one special class for autism and is considering approval of a second class in the school to meet demand. The NCSE continues to establish additional autism classes where the need arises in both special and mainstream primary and post-primary schools.
The Deputy may be aware that the recently completed building project in Castleknock Educate Together school incorporates accommodation for the autism unit. Additional supports available from the Department for special classes for pupils with autism include start-up and enhanced capitation grants, and the school authorities in question have been advised accordingly. In addition, extra training support for staff engaged in education provision for children with autism can be accessed through the special education support service. This service will, as appropriate, consolidate, co-ordinate, develop and deliver a range of professional development initiatives and support structures to the relevant staff.