2026-04-16

I want to raise the case of Gorey Hill school in Gorey, County Wexford. This is a school for learners with complex learning needs aged between four and 18. It was officially opened only at the beginning of 2025, although it had been in operation from late 2024. Part of the reason the school was opened was that there was so much pressure on St. Patrick's Special School in Enniscorthy that there was a need for additional places in counties Wexford and Wicklow for young people with complex learning needs. In fairness, through co-operation between the Gaelscoil, An Foras Pátrúnachta, the patron body, Waterford Wexford Education and Training Board and the Department, this school was very quickly able to get off the ground using a number of areas within the Gaelscoil that were not in use. There is also on the site a very successful naíonra, a preschool provision, operating through the Irish language. This school is extraordinarily well run. I pay tribute to all the staff there. It is among the first schools that are going to be rolling out the new educational therapy services. However, we are already we are into a situation where this new school is full. The school has to inform parents and others as to how many places will be available. For the 2026-27 school year, there are no new places for admission into the school and that is because the school is already full. There is a proposal to expand the school. There is a modular development being set out. There is a concern, and rightfully so, among some of the parents in regard to the Gaelscoil and the naíonra and the potential impact it may have on play areas if a modular building is put in place, thereby limiting the number of play areas and parking spaces within the facility. There is strong support for the school, but consideration has to be given to the impact on the existing Gaelscoil and naíonra. What guarantees are in place in the context of additional places? For those who want to have places in the school from this September, if the modular building is proceeding, has there been consultation with the parents, the naíonra and others who are going to be impacted if it goes ahead? Will the building require planning permission? What is the timeline in that regard? More importantly, the intention in respect of this provision was that it was to be an interim measure. The long-term goal was to have a specially built, fully functioning new special school on a greenfield site. The reason we know this - the Minister of State knows it as well - is that north Wexford and south Wicklow is one of the fastest growing areas in the country. There is a huge demand for special education. We already know, and I know from talking to primary school teachers and parents, about the demands for places within this school. Our long-term goal is that we get the commitment that was made - a very clear commitment and timeframe for the building of a school for those with complex learning needs. It is important right now, in the immediate term, that we spell out exactly what is going to happen to ensure there is sufficient provision within the immediate community.

I am taking this matter on behalf of Deputy Michael Moynihan, Minister of State at the Department of Education and Youth, who sends his apologies because he cannot be here today. I thank the Deputy for raising the matter and giving me the opportunity to outline the Department of Education and Youth’s plans to address the accommodation needs for Gorey Hill School. Gorey Hill School is one of four special schools established for the 2024-25 school year. The school operates under the patronage of Waterford and Wexford Education and Training Board, ETB. The school currently supports 37 young people aged between four and 18 who have a diagnosis of autism and-or complex learning needs, with a professional recommendation requiring the support of a special school setting. The staffing comprises an administrative principal, administrative deputy principal, seven class teachers and 18 special needs assistants, together with ten post primary co-operation hours per week. The school is based in a Department-owned school property in Gorey. Surplus capacity in the building was repurposed to make it suitable for special school purposes and to facilitate the opening of the new school. The repurposing project was delivered under the Department’s special educational needs reconfiguration and modular accommodation programme, which facilitated the school opening as quickly as possible. The programme involves the use of project management supports which is designed to enable the accommodation to be provided as quickly as possible and help ease the administrative workload for school authorities in relation to the management and delivery of projects. This is a collaborative process between the project manager, school authority and the Department of Education and Youth. The property provides an opportunity to facilitate a co-location arrangement with other schools, which is consistent with the Department’s approach of maximising existing capacity and enabling local unmet needs for special school places to be met. The school is now at capacity and additional accommodation is required to facilitate further enrolments. The site at Gorey provides a good location for expanding capacity with a permanent modular extension for the school. The Department of Education and Youth regards the current repurposed school building as the permanent location for Gorey Hill School. It is intended that the permanent capacity at the school will be expanded through the provision of the proposed modular accommodation project. This detail is currently being worked through and the Department is engaging with Waterford and Wexford ETB during this process. The modular accommodation framework is a key part of the Department’s strategy for the provision of good quality functional accommodation to meet the permanent accommodation requirements for prioritised individual schools. Between 2020 and 2025, the Department of Education and Youth has provided €174.6 million in capital funding for Wexford schools. Over this period, a total of 58 schools have been upgraded either through provision of a new school building, a large-scale extension or provision of modular accommodation. There are currently seven school projects in Wexford under construction. One school project will go to tender or construction in 2026-27, and this summer, eight schools are approved to undergo works as part of the summer works scheme. In addition, since 2020, a total of 80 special classes have been opened in Wexford, ten of which were sanctioned for September next. Budget 2026 has secured funding for 3,000 new specialist places and the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, is currently examining where these places are best located for the 2026-27 academic year.

I thank the Minister of State. I appreciate that he is taking this on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, who has indeed visited Gorey Hill School. There is an acknowledgment in here that the school is already at capacity and that there is greater demand. The concern I have in regard to the answer that has been provided is whether regard has been had to the potential impact the proposed modular construction will have on the play area, car parking and ancillary services that exist on the site already, and if there has been a sufficient level of consultation around this. Everyone wants to see the school grow, but this should not be at the expense of either the Gaelscoil or the naíonra. I would encourage that there should be consultation with the parents who are concerned about that but, as I said, they are incredibly supportive of the school in the long run. This is in an extremely busy area of the school. We have a second level school, Creagh College, with 1,000 pupils in the area, as well as not just the Gaelscoil but two other primary schools, all within a couple of hundred metres of this site. It is already an extremely busy educational campus. There are obviously concerns that if we are looking at expanding educational facilities on the same site, some of that will have a knock-on impact. I certainly support and want to see the development of the school. As an interim solution, the modular solution is what may be necessary and the creation of the school was done at breakneck speed, for which I really praised the Department. It was what it needed to do. I am concerned, given the projected growth in population plus the demand within the area, that in the long term this modular extension is potentially seen as the long-term solution. We in north Wexford have been told many times that when we get a new school, that is the last school the area will get and yet, the population continues to grow and we eventually get an additional school. The Department needs to go back to the drawing board and have a long-term plan to ensure that we have a greenfield site for the building of a new special school in the area.

I thank the Deputy. I call Deputy Ellis. Apologies; I call the Minister of State.

That is fine. I reiterate that it was very welcome and helpful that he arranged a visit by the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, to the school, where he saw first hand the challenges that are there. The challenge is to ensure the additional demand is met with additional capacity in a timely way as well. The one point I will have taken from the original reply is that there is ongoing engagement between the education and training board and the Department to ensure we can meet that demand, while at the same time not compromising the facilities that are currently there. I will bring the Deputy's message back to the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, loud and clear that the consultation needs to continue but also needs to conclude in a timely fashion to enable that modular unit to be delivered, increasing capacity for the children with special educational needs. Ultimately, that is what we need to do. We need to ensure that children who have special needs have the opportunity to attend school in their own locality rather than being transferred for miles, because that is not in anybody's interests either.