Mary Moran (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am not a member of the committee, but when I realised what was being discussed at this meeting, I decided to come and make a contribution. I congratulate and commend our guests on their ongoing work, with which I am familiar. As a parent of a child with special needs, they outlined the concerns of parents in a nutshell. The fact that I have a child with special needs is one of the main reasons I became involved in politics in the first instance.

Will our guests outline their views on the role of SENOs? As a result of my involvement in a number of cases since becoming a Member of the Seanad, I am aware of the importance of parental choice. Parents know their children better than any educator. When they have examined all of the possibilities, parents will know the school to which they want to send their children. However, the recommendations of the relevant SENO will often affect their plans and they will be obliged to try to negotiate the school transport issue as a result. I am dealing with one individual whose child has concessionary travel and who is seeking to have the school bus travel the extra 2 km to the family home. At present, the child has to be collected from the side of the road.