Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil le gach duine a tháinig anseo inniu. Cuireann sé déistin orm nach bhfuil áiseanna ar fáil sa seomra seo chun seans a thabhairt do dhaoine caint trí Ghaeilge. That needs to be addressed. It disgusts me that we do not have the facilities in this room to speak Irish. It is a reflection on this Government, which has not done enough to promote the Irish language. This is yet another example. I hope we can get this resolved. Aontaím leis na cainteoirí a dúirt go bhfuil sé fíorthábhachtach go ndéanfaimid gach iarracht an Ghaeilge a chosaint sna scoileanna. Ba chóir go mbeadh Gaelscoileanna in ann tosaíocht a thabhairt do pháistí atá á dtógáil trí mheán na Gaeilge agus do pháistí a fhreastalaíonn ar naíonraí ina gceantracha féin. I am passionate about this matter. I am of the view that the Irish language needs to be protected. It is not protected or even respected. We need to make sure we are doing everything possible to protect the ethos of our Gaelscoileanna. They are in the minority because resources are not being put in place.

Too often, children with special educational needs are refused entry. That is often based on misguided assumptions or teachers feeling they are not competent to deal with the challenges. It is too easy for schools to do that. It is a loophole we need to close. It is not good enough for a school to say it does not have the resources. Schools should have the good will to try and consider the child's ability rather than his or her disability. It is all based on assumption and negative. I hope this Bill will address those issues about which I feel strongly.