Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for having to step out for a few minutes. It is a busy enough day. I thank all the witnesses for their presentations. As somebody who comes from an educational background and has taught special needs children, I completely understand what is going on here. It is unacceptable that parents have to fight tooth and nail. I have also seen cases where teachers have to fight tooth and nail for IT equipment and basic things children need to support their learning, as well as trying to get them assessed and get access to therapies. I have first-hand experience in that regard.

The lack of responsibility and so forth in the system has been referenced and, certainly, that is a major issue. How do we overcome the lack of accountability? We need to have the same robust approach I see in other areas, such as climate action, where there are targets in place and consequences for missing them. We are dealing with children who need to be given every chance to reach their full potential as is laid out in the Education Act 1998. At this point, there needs to be more robust measures and more robust accountability in place because we have fantastic initiatives.

I wholeheartedly welcome many of the initiatives in the EPSEN Act to create a more inclusive society and a more inclusive education system for all children of different abilities. I do not use the word "disability", rather, I use the term "different ability". We need to wake up to the sense that something needs to be done fast. This has dragged on and on. It often struck me, as a teacher with a master's in special education, which I loved doing, that it makes no sense that IEPs were never made mandatory. It was considered good practice, whereas the classroom planning is mandatory. Every teacher, when qualified, has to draw up his or her fortnightly and monthly plans, policy objectives and what not, at a whole-school level. Questions need to be asked here. Why is it not on the same level? We are talking about inclusiveness and equality but, certainly, there are serious gaps in our education system that need to be addressed. I ask the witnesses to indicate how we can make things more accountable in our education system? How we can place more of an onus on Government to deliver on these targets and great initiatives?

I am sure the officials will agree it is imperative that there is early intervention when a child is diagnosed with autism. There are reports of considerable delays in the provision of support services to children diagnosed with autism by NEPS. Indeed, it is very much a postcode lottery. The standard and quality of service depends on where one lives, which is completely unacceptable. Can NEPS specify the waiting time from when a child gets a diagnosis of autism to the provision of therapeutic services, outside of those provided in school? Can it provide information on that? Is there a specified target date for providing these services after diagnosis? Is it the case that while some measures have been consolidated into law, the actual implementation is just not there? Certainly, that is what we see. I would like to hear the witnesses' thoughts on that.

I want to acknowledge that I met Gavin from AsIAm. We had a good meeting and discussed many of the issues. I am more than willing to support the witnesses in the context of many of the concerns they have had for far too long. There needs to be more collaboration among all stakeholders. There needs to be co-ordination, certainly among therapists and schools. We should have on-site therapists in our schools and more collaboration. That is just not there. The access to therapies is very much a postcode lottery. I dealt with a newly married couple who felt that if they moved to a certain county, their child would get better service. That is not acceptable. It is not good enough that people have to go to that extreme.