Lack of special school places forces Cork mother to search as far away as Donegal

Despite plans to open new special schools in Cork City and Tipperary, she has been told that all special schools in Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Waterford, Tipperary, Clare and Galway are full for this September.

She has been contacting her local TD, Fianna Fáil TD Michael Moynihan, now the minister of state at the Department of Education to highlight her situation.

“Patrick has limited speech and he’s asking where he’s going to big school. He hates school, he has huge anxiety about going to school, but he wants to go to big school and I can’t tell him. I have no answer for him, and he’s stressed then. It is affecting his health, and it is taking a toll on the family.”

Ms Casey Jones had already been considering moving to a different county after receiving 29 rejections for a special class placement from mainstream schools for Patrick.

However, in January of this year, a clinical psychologist attached to the Children’s Network Disability Team (CDNT) in Mallow recommended that Patrick would be better suited to attending a special school.

Just before Patrick’s second birthday, he was diagnosed with autism, a severe language delay and a mild learning disability.

He currently attends a mainstream primary school in an ASD class, in Ballyclough, Mallow, but is finding it difficult.

“It doesn’t suit him, he’s really struggling,” his mother said.

Her youngest son Adam is also on the waiting list locally for an autism assessment through the local primary care system.

Planning the family’s move is proving next to impossible without an offer of a school place. The family needs a spot within a commutable distance as Patrick can’t use school transport.

“We’ve used it before and he can’t do it, we’ve had big issues. We have to travel and I have to carry him.” 

Both boys also access therapies and services locally. “I’m worried that if I relocate my little boy, we’ve been waiting two years for him to be assessed and we’ll go to the bottom of the list.”

Before December, Sheila had applied to mainstream schools with special classes open for a place for Patrick, and received 25 automatic rejection letters on the basis that waiting lists were full.

They were also placed on four waiting lists. “We were hitting a lot of brick walls. With the four remaining schools, we eventually received no’s as well because we were too far down the list.

“I knew it was bad enough with mainstream and the ASD classes but we’re hitting the special school system now and it’s heartbreaking because there is just nothing there,” Ms Casey Jones said.

“It’s brick wall after brick wall. All the special schools I have applied to in Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Waterford, Tipperary, Clare and Galway are full and I’ve been told to contact my SENO (special educational needs organiser). All I’m going on is this apparent special school that’s due to open up on the northside of Cork City.

“I have no choice really, this is what it has come down. I’ve looked at schools in Donegal. I don’t want to move, because they are both in services and it would involve pulling [the boys] out of services and putting them into new services.” 

Last October, the Department of Education announced that five new special schools are to open this year as expanding places in existing schools will not meet the level of need.

The schools, to be based in Cork, Dublin, Tipperary, and Monaghan, are expected to open in existing buildings which will be repurposed for the 2025/26 school year.

“If Patrick could get a place in this school they announced in November for the north side of Cork City, that would be amazing. I think I could work it so that Adam could stay where he is and we’d still be in commutable distance. But no one knows about this school, or where it is.” 

On Tuesday, the Dáil heard how five months on from when it was first announced, no progress has been made on acquiring the site for the new special school due to open in Cork in September. 

Fianna Fáil TD for Cork North Central Padraig O’Sullivan raised the issue with Taoiseach Micheál Martin. “We gave people that commitment that a special school would open in September of 2025 unfortunately, I just can’t see at this point in time how it’s going to be done.”

“I’m asking that this will be treated with urgency, that the Department of Education will be told to get their act together to source the building or the site, and to just get on delivering the special school.”