Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

To follow up on what Mr. O'Regan said, I have a concern about the matter the Vice Chairman raised. It is not the first time that I have heard it. I have heard it numerous times. Correct me if I am wrong, but the health model is a needs-based delivery programme. It is for children who wish to access various levels of education, whether at a national school or when transitioning from national to secondary school. There is assessment and diagnosis. As Mr. O'Regan said, when a child comes in front of the teams, the first matter is an assessment of what the correct intervention is. Any children coming before our multidisciplinary teams could require numerous interventions, including occupational therapy, physiotherapy or speech and language therapy. It could take a while to have an overall diagnosis of what that child needs. The priority should always be intervention. I have always said that I want to get away from assessment and to intervention. We seem to be tethered by how the education system is run, which seems to be based on assessment and diagnosis that provides an SNA or access to a special class or special unit.

The Minister of State at the Department of Education with responsibility for special education and I will have to form a working group and to gain a clear understanding of what the Department of Health does with regard to disability. I would especially like to understand what the role and responsibility of SENOs are. What is their understanding of the delivery of units, classes and access to education? Every child has a constitutional right to education and at no stage should a barrier be put in place since they have not received an assessment. We will take on board everything the committee has said, but our priority is providing timely interventions. It is critical that the HSE is held to account. At the same time, there is no point in laying the blame at one Department's door when there are other players on the stage. Everybody has a role to play. I will engage with the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, about this, but I reiterate that I am concerned about this. It is a barrier to children.

In the Cork area, there are significant issues in this regard. Only yesterday, I had a call about Dublin 2 and Dublin 4 with my party colleague, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, and Deputies Bacik and Andrews. We had this conversation. Children are being told that they cannot access school places in the coming year. It is time-sensitive because they do not have an assessment. We are now formulating our teams and the files have to be turned upside-down because we have to give priority. Those families need a pathway to education. Work needs to be done on this and I will not shy from that.