Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I spoke on this issue at the last meeting and I get angrier every time I hear the issue played out. Nobody has mentioned the Constitution, in which it states that every child is entitled to a free primary education. We do not need guidelines from anywhere as the Constitution is the guideline and it is the law of the country. I have huge respect for the three witnesses from the voluntary sector but they need to take a harder line on this. I accept that guidelines need to be monitored but every child is entitled to a free primary education. Ms Hanahoe's example may fit in with what the Department of Education and Skills and the Minister said in the Dáil. Ms Mary Byrne and the National Council for Special Education are the people who advise on this matter and they have not endorsed it as they say they do not have the evidence to do so. I am grateful to Ms Byrne for saying this and I will listen to her very carefully on this matter. The Minister is very clear that this should not be happening but resources for schools, to ensure they can provide the education that is guaranteed under the Constitution, are the key issue.

When this committee makes its report, I firmly believe that we should take a hard line on this on behalf of children as they should not be denied their right to free primary education, by the schools or because of a lack of resources from the Department. The only people who are getting on to us about this are the families of children with special needs and their representative organisations. It affects Travellers and people from lower socio-economic backgrounds, as it was said was the case in Limerick. It is utter discrimination and it is just an excuse. The boards of management and education and training boards, ETBs, should be reporting this back to the Department of Education and Skills and demanding that resources be provided to ensure children can be dealt with. I am grateful to the National Council for Special Education for the hard line it is taking on this and for saying it should not be happening. The Minister took a hard line in the Dáil and said it should not be happening but I am not sure he is doing anything to prevent it happening. We need to be uncompromising on the constitutional right to an education and I hope the relevant Government Departments take the same line, both in terms of what they say and the actions they take.