Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 July 2023
305. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Education the options available to a person (details supplied) who has been unable to secure a school place in their locality or in their neighbouring towns and whose situation is complex due to medical reasons; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32465/23]
View answerI would like to thank the Deputy for the question and would like to advise the following. There are essentially two state agencies who can assist where a child is seeking a school place.
The Educational Welfare Service (EWS) is part of Tusla Education Support Service (TESS) and operates under the Education (Welfare) Act, 2000, a piece of legislation that emphasises the promotion of school attendance, participation and retention.
The EWS deal with children and families who have difficulties in relation to school attendance, participation and retention. This is a statutory service and its primary role is to ensure that every child either attends school regularly or otherwise receives a certain minimum education; to ensure and secure every child’s entitlement to education.
TESS offers advice and assistance to parents seeking school placements for their children. However, if there is oversubscription for schools in a particular geographical area it may be necessary to make applications to schools in a neighbouring town/village. Contact details for TESS can be found on the Tusla website: www.tusla.ie/get-in-touch/
An Educational Welfare Officer (EWO) may have knowledge of schools that may have capacity and will advise parents to make an application to that school. Parental choice has to be taken into account when seeking a school place for a child but a place in a school of first choice is not always possible. The EWO can designate a school place for a student if it can be proven that the school has capacity and have refused to admit the child in accordance with their admissions policy.
The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children with special educational needs nationwide.
Parents seeking special class placements for their children are advised to contact the NCSE locally so that their needs can be taken into account for planning purposes. The local special educational needs organisers (SENOs) remain available to assist and advise parents of children with special educational needs. Parents may contact SENOs directly using the contact details available at: www.ncse.ie/regional-services-contact-list.
Information on the list of schools with special classes, the types and locations of these classes is also published on the NCSE website: www.ncse.ie.
The NCSE is committed to ensuring that sufficient special education placements will be available for children for the coming school year 2023/24.
