The Department of Education has suggested special needs children in Laois should travel to Tipperary or Kildare for school, as the Government remain determined to close classes in a Laois special school.
LaoisToday previously reported that the Department, headed by Fianna Fáil TD Norma Foley, Minister for Education, had demanded the closure of three classes in St Francis Special School, Portlaoise.
Fine Gael TD, Hildegarde Naughton also has a crucial role in this as the current Minister of State with responsibility for Special Education and Inclusion.
When contacted for response, a Department spokesperson told LaoisToday:
“The NCSE (National Council for Special Education) will continue to support families seeking special school placements in the area for the coming school year 2025/2026.
“In October, Ministers Foley and Naughton announced plans to establish another five special schools for the 2025/2026 school year, including one new special school in County Tipperary.
“This builds on the establishment of 11 new special schools over recent years, including a new special school which opened in County Kildare in September 2024.”
This would suggest that the Department believe it is perfectly acceptable for families who cannot enroll in schools in the Portlaoise area – or Laois as a whole – to be shipped off to neighbouring counties in search of an education.
Speaking with LaoisToday, St Francis principal, Mr John Moran, gave his reaction to the Department of Education’s statement:
“They mentioned special schools is Tipperary and Kildare. Now, I would welcome them for those areas, but it’s not realistic to expect families to transport children outside of the county,” he said.
“The major pressure-point areas (in Laois) are Portlaoise and Portarlington – areas of major population growth.”
The Department’s statement made no mention of the directive for St Francis to cut three classes from their school, nor was there any mention of the refusal of the school’s request for two temporary classrooms.
“We have 19 classes in a school that’s designed for 12,” Mr Moran said.
“But if we weren’t taking all these extra numbers there would be 50 more children with no place – in addition to the 45 that’s currently on the waiting list.
“The decision to refuse St Francis temporary accommodation needs to be reviewed without question.”
Photo: Alf Harvey.
The Department’s response opened with the line: “There is no impact on students currently enrolled at the school.”
But that was already well established by Mr Moran.
The crux of the matter is the insistence on the removal of three classes from the school will prevent any new students from enrolling.
“This is about new applicants hoping to come to the school over the coming years,” Mr Moran said.
“That hasn’t been addressed and it needs to be addressed.”
The Department of Educations response in full is as follows:
“There is no impact on students currently enrolled at the school.
“A new 12-classroom school building was provided for St Francis Special School in Portlaoise in 2021.
“The school has also since dedicated an existing room for additional classroom purposes.
“Following engagement by the Department of Education with the patron, school and National Council for Special Education (NCSE) regarding expanding enrolment figures in the school, the Department approved an additional four classrooms to meet the school’s long-term accommodation needs.
“The building project to provide this additional four classroom capacity has been devolved to the school authority for delivery.
“The school has lodged the planning application for this building project with Laois County Council and a decision is due in the coming weeks.
“This project, when constructed, will provide significant additional capacity to the school.
“The NCSE continues to engage with the school and will be meeting the school patron on this matter.
“The NCSE will continue to support families seeking special school placements in the area for the coming school year 2025/2026.
“In October, Ministers Foley and Naughton announced plans to establish another five special schools for the 2025/2026 school year, including one new special school in County Tipperary.
“Capacity will be expanded in a number of other special schools also.
“This builds on the establishment of 11 new special schools over recent years, including a new special school which opened in County Kildare in September 2024.”
