A utility provider has sought to cut off the gas supply to a school that owes thousands of euro in arrears, the Dáil Public Accounts Committee (Pac) has been told.

Fianna Fáil TD Paul McAuliffe said the school, which he did not identify, had debts of €33,000.

“This week the gas company arrived at the school to disconnect them, to talk about disconnection,” he said.

“There is an issue in Deis areas [locations with high concentrations of disadvantage] about capitation.

“Whatever about the Financial Services Support Unit [which provides advice to schools on behalf of the Department of Education] helping to manage budgets, there is just not enough in the budget.”

McAuliffe said principals in schools were being expected to do a huge amount and it was going to affect recruitment.

Fine Gael TD Grace Boland said some principals and teachers had to come in two hours early “to mop out schools when it rains” due to poor infrastructure.

Meanwhile the secretary general of the Department of Education, Bernie McNally, told the committee that parents did not need to go down the legal route to try to secure a place in a special needs class or school for their child.

“Genuinely, we have put in the resources. There are twice the number of special classes now than there were in 2020,” she said.

“We now have 31,000 specialist places. We have increased the number of special schools by 20. We have put an extra 50 special education needs organisers into the National Council for Special Education.

“Every parent who believes their child needs a specialist place, they need to make themselves known to the NCSE and the special education needs organisers. We will provide them with an appropriate education, a special class.”

McNally said education spending was not “a runaway train”. However, she said this year’s spending deficit would involve “a significant amount of money”.

Replying to Albert Dolan of Fianna Fáil, she declined to provide a specific figure for the overrun.

However, McNally said Minister for Education Hildegarde Naughton had publicly stated the overrun would be “north of €500 million”. She said the increased spending was due to demographic growth and that education services were demand-led.

She said there were 38,000 more students in the education system than in 2020, and 200,000 more than 2003.

McNally said she understood the €19 million promised by the Government to ensure no school would lose special needs assistants next year would be additional funding.

However, she said financial procedures had to be followed and Government would have to make a formal decision and the Oireachtas would have to approve the additional money.

She said she could give a categoric assurance that no school would see special needs assistants transferred elsewhere.