Jerry Buttimer (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is extraordinary that this motion has been brought before the House by a party that spent 14 years in government. Today, representatives of that party had the audacity to meet the parents of special needs children outside this House to feign a sharing of their indignation and concern. I remind Deputies that the result of its 14 years in at the helm was €64 billion being put into our banks. That money could be spent in this and other areas today. The former Minister, Deputy Martin, promised an end to Punch and Judy politics when he became the leader of Fianna Fáil. Instead, Deputy McConalogue walked to the plinth to give a mock speech before walking back in here again tonight.

As a schoolteacher and as someone who has been involved with the COPE Foundation in Cork for most of my life, I accept that no parent and no child should be put at risk in our education system. That is why the Minister, Deputy Quinn, listened to members of the Government parties this week, as he does all the time. That is why the Government has ring-fenced €1.3 billion from the overall the budgetary allocation for the provision of special needs education. That is why this Government has preserved over 10,500 special needs posts since 2011. We have not touched them, unlike the parties opposite, which cut them when they were in government.

It is difficult to manage these matters in these contrary times. As Deputies Jim Daly and Patrick O'Donovan suggested, we must make a different measurement, in the interests of reform, when we are spending what is afforded to us under the general allocation model. That is why it is important that Mr. Stack is left to do his work. Reform is needed. It is one thing to have 2014 sorted, but we must look to the future. We must never again allow parents, teachers and children to be worried and concerned because the airwaves have become engulfed with hysteria and fear. Some of it is genuine but more of it is ill-founded.

As legislators, our job is to protect the most vulnerable and to give them a service. We are doing that. We need to be smarter and more intelligent in how we do that. This Government has made mistakes. Unlike our predecessors, we recognise when we make mistakes and make amends by moving back. That is what the Minister for Education and Skills has done today. That is why it is important for us to learn from this debate. We should not go up on the plinth with a flag and a panacea for everything. I will conclude by reiterating that I welcome the Minister's decision. I hope we will not be back here again in the future.

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