Eileen Flynn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I was going to make the point that we bring in the Minister with responsibility for children and the Minister of State to address the committee. In the short time I have been a member of the committee, I am conscious of the level of inequality in care for children and we talk about the rights of the child. I very much thank the witnesses for coming in and presenting to us, which is appreciated. It is not they who are at fault. As one of the witnesses said, they are the professionals and hold children’s best interests at the core of what they do. It is hard to understand that a commitment was given that a child would have to wait no longer than three months for an assessment and now they have to get pre-assessed to be assessed, which is just kicking the can down the road. As a Traveller woman who came through primary and second level education with full-blown dyslexia and really struggled for many years, I know the impact having any sort of a learning disability can have on a child in feeling less than the other children in the classroom. I am not an educational professional when it comes to children with special needs. The question I have for the witnesses is what would they like this committee to do as we go forward to address some of the backlog where children’s needs are not being met? If any of the witnesses could answer that question, I would give my support to make happen to the best of my ability. That is my only question. I thank the witnesses for coming in and for their level of work. I stress that as a 30 year old woman who went through the education system with a disability, it has a dramatic impact on one's learning, mental health and everything else that goes with that.