Crisis in East Cork as special needs places are dwindling
Many families in East Cork are facing a heartbreaking crisis thanks to a “postcode lottery” as vulnerable special needs children are being left without secondary school places.
This was the motivation behind a powerful motion brought forward on Monday by Mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr Mary Linehan Foley.
Speaking at Monday’s full county council meeting, the mayor described how children from Youghal and East Cork are being forced to spend hours traveling in taxis just to access basic education due to a severe shortage of special needs secondary school places in the region.
She said the students must often travel outside their own county as far as Dungarvan, Waterford.
The county mayor spoke largely on the behalf of parent-led East Cork advocacy group, Bridging the Gap, pointing out that the group has almost exhausted all avenues in its efforts to spur action at a government level.
“Bridging the Gap have met with ministers, they've met with the ETB (Education and Training Board), they've met with everybody that they can meet.
“They were due to meet with Minister Michael Moynihan a number of months ago, but there's been some delay in this and there's been no correspondence,” added the mayor.
She went on to stress that with children rapidly approaching the end of their primary school years, the lack of a designated secondary facility in East Cork, and specifically Youghal, has triggered a local crisis.
She continued: “So, this is really an emergency because our children at the moment are being taxied at a cost to the taxpayer to Cork city. They can be an hour or more in the car attending school. They can be 40 minutes to Dungarvan, which is out of our county, which shouldn't be the case at all,” said the mayor.
Mayor Linehan Foley’s motion was supported unanimously within the chamber, with Fianna Fáil councillor Ann Marie Ahern outlining the raw human toll of what she sees as a failure by the state.
Cllr Audrey Buckley (FF) said: “The children are coming closer and closer to finishing out their primary school term and being left with, at times, no secondary school place because of postcode lotteries.”
Adding a first-hand perspective, East Cork Fine Gael councillor, Sinéad Sheppard, revealed she teaches dancing to two local children caught facing this very crisis: “I actually teach two of the children that are fighting for a school place for down in Youghal. Just the most beautiful children, and parents are so stretched because they just are in such worry that they can't find a secondary school place for their children.
“To think that parents are already fighting for their lives most days for children with additional needs, but to know that they have this additional worry that their child might not have a school place is absolutely disgusting,” said Cllr Sheppard.
According to research done by Fianna Fáil councillor Patrick Mulcahy, over 100 pupils have already been diagnosed with special needs in the region, with many more awaiting assessment.
Cork County Council agreed to issue immediate correspondence to the HSE, Minister for Special Education, Michael Moynihan TD and Minister for Education, Hildegarde Naughton.