James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish the Secretary General well and a speedy recovery. On a positive note, I recognise that 2020 was an exceptionally challenging year for the Department. It had to deal with a lot of new changes relating to Covid-19. Perhaps not everything was done right, but I imagine it was not a very easy experience for departmental staff. I also wish to acknowledge the work done by those on the front line in schools during that period.

The first issue that I wish to raise is very much under discussion currently. It concerns the requirement for legislation to be rushed through to provide additional supports for children with special needs. It is an issue that is raised with me repeatedly. When I am running my constituency clinics, I am approached by many families looking for supports and school places for their children. The delivery of such supports and places in the Cork area is far behind where it needs to be. I am sure Ms Mannion will be aware of the issues in County Cork, in particular, and in south County Dublin, where the issue seems to be more acute than in other parts of the country. That represents a systems failure by the Department, and something that requires urgent action to be taken. I know that work is being done at the moment. I will provide an example. Recently, the Minister came to my constituency and we visited a number of schools. We visited one secondary school with more than 800 pupils, which has an allocation of just one SNA. That is shocking. This issue is being raised in other areas of the country. I am being repeatedly told, by school principals, that despite frequent requests being made to the local officer tasked with liaising between the Department and the schools, they are getting nowhere. That is affecting areas such as Midleton, Cobh and Glanmire. It is extremely serious. What is the Department doing to try to improve and build upon the work being undertaken to try to limit the scenario where the schools out there quite frankly cannot get the resources they require? As I mentioned earlier, I visited a school with 800 pupils to which only one SNA is allocated. That is not reflective of the needs of the students who require SNA support.

Is Ms Mannion in charge of that brief?