Mr. Mark O'Connor:

I will take the question. I reiterate that Inclusion Ireland has long held the belief that the scheme is discriminatory in its nature but it is not only us; the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, which provides policy advice for the Minister for Education and Skills on special education needs, has stated the scheme is inequitable in its current guise. That has not changed. The NCSE tells us that the research shows that children with other intellectual disabilities, not just autism and severe and profound disabilities, can suffer educational regression. There is no reason they should be excluded from the scheme.

In response to what the Deputy and others have said, sometimes when one has a child with a disability a parallel universe opens up when that disability is confirmed. One goes into what we term "special land" and services can sometimes be difficult to access. Parents often characterise it as a constant fight for supports, be they financial supports from the State or educational and health supports.

Specifically regarding the July provision scheme, a couple of parents came to us some years back who were fed up with the situation whereby their children could not access the scheme. They took a case to the Equality Tribunal, which is now in the Workplace Relations Commission. It took a long time to get going but eventually in the summer of last year the case went to the High Court, at which time the Minister settled the case so a judgment was not made. The two children with Down's syndrome were allowed to access the July provision scheme they were not previously allowed to access. This summer allowed the Minister to build on that and to open up the scheme fully. We welcome the bit that it has been opened up but we urge him to push it that extra little bit and to include young people who are in second level education. It would not have been too much more ground to cede on the scheme. While there is still time, we urge the Minister to do that.