Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am a newly elected Deputy and I have engaged a lot with the special needs and disability sectors. Recently I met the family of two very special needs children, both intellectually and physically, who are now adults and their transition from primary to post-primary education was extremely difficult. In 2001, a fundamental part of their education in terms of the delivery of special needs was the provision of a special needs assistant who worked on a one-on-one basis. When I met the mother of these boys recently her attitude was that in 2011 when one-on-one interaction was taken away it resulted in negative impacts on one of her sons who had fewer requirements then than his brother and would have been capable of holding down a job or living alone. In 2011, the assistance was removed and it has never been put back. Assistance is now provided on a piecemeal basis and the teacher decides what is required and who gets what, which is counterproductive and costs the Exchequer more in the long run. Has the Department of Education carried out a value-for-money analysis, and I hate to use the term "value-for money" in this instance, following removal of that system of special needs education and assistance compared with the current services provided? Does the Department cut ties when special needs children reach 18 years and, therefore, are no longer in the Department's education system?