Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to have all of the main stakeholders present. Instinctively I always support trade unions. I worked in one and come from a very strong trade union household. However, I do not agree with the union's position on withdrawing IEPs, although I totally support its call for the provision of extra training, resources and anything else that is needed. I am always an advocate for workers' rights, but the stance taken singles out a group of vulnerable students who probably have had to battle through a lot in their lives. Their parents have also had to battle on their behalf. Therefore, I do not think the stance taken is fair. I would support the union fully if it were to take action, but in doing so it should not single out the students in question. The position should be the same for every student. I would be more supportive if workers sought to go on strike, work to rule or take other forms of industrial action if they did not completely withdraw that option, although the system is not perfect. The stakeholders are the ones that deal with this matter on a daily basis and, therefore, know a lot more about it. Obviously, there is a need for a lot more investment and more work to be done. That is my question for the Department. As I said, I strongly disagree with the stance taken because it was not the right thing to do.

I want to put that on the record because I feel strongly about it. The Department is standing over a situation where these children are being left behind completely. One of the most significant queries we deal with, regardless of whether it involves children with Down's syndrome or children with additional needs, is the constant battle they face to get anything to which they are supposed to be entitled. We cannot talk about education being a right and about being inclusive if children are being left behind, which is what is happening. It is not good enough. This needs to be addressed right now and a timeframe regarding when it will be sorted out needs to be provided. It should not be something that will drag on so that we will be sitting here in two years talking about the same thing with all those children having been failed. We are constantly talking at this committee about different systems where children are falling through the cracks and we cannot allow it to keep happening. I would stress this to the Department.

I was going to ask about the EPSEN Act but Deputy Catherine Martin asked about that in terms of the timeframe for its full implementation. We asked a question about it last week and one part of the answer stated that the Department believed the level of investment required could be significantly greater than that envisaged in the NCSE report. Is the Department saying that it will just cost too much money and that it will not bother with it? It should at least be honest about that if that is the answer. We need action on all of these issues.