Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank members and I thank the witnesses for being here. If you look at the questions coming from members, as public representatives we are experiencing the frustrations of families and the challenges that are being faced there. A lot has changed in education provision and throughout the system. I spoke at the Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth last night about the attitude towards this and that probably goes back to the use of language in circulars in the 1950s and 1960s and so forth. We have come a long way but we have a long road to go as well in our attitude.

On school transport in the Department of Education, I find it extremely challenging, to put it mildly, to resolve some issues that crop up for families that have opted to get the grant at some stage and then switched because it simply does not work out and they are trying to get transport. I have one particular family that has applied for it since last September and has not got confirmation of it yet as we face 1 May and we are into the last few weeks of the school year. That is simply unacceptable and I have been trying to contact the Department for some time and have got no response on it. The Department should look at that and make sure that school transport for kids with additional needs is fit for purpose and ready to deal with them. The straightforward stuff is done straight away but if there are changes there does not seem to be an ability to respond to that in a speedy way.

I mention the unmet need, which we keep talking about in this committee. I return to the point that an awful lot of good work has been done but that there is an awful lot of work to do. I would put down the challenge about finances or resources that are there within the current year, particularly to add additional services or capacity for respite, children's respite and so forth. All of that is being driven on apace and is not just in a process. It must be moving apace and there must be no issue with it.

The witnesses spoke about the issues with speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and physiotherapists right across Europe. There is an issue with CORU and the delay in ratifying people with these qualifications to work within Ireland. All of those things should be ironed out as fast as possible. It is something that will help to build capacity within the network for people with additional needs or disabilities and it should be ironed out. For me looking in, a simple thing seems to be delaying it and there needs to be urgency with that. The reality with society and everything else is that it is developing and evolving and we will have to have new ideas, which is why I welcome the pilot schemes. We also need to make sure that we free any small blockages in the system, which could make an awful difference. We have shortages of labour in different sectors but we should be talking to second level students about occupational therapy, speech and language therapy and the need for those posts within society. As we evolve and develop, those positions will be needed more in mainstream education as well to support the broader society. That is something we should do and those are my few comments. We talk about the optional protocol and the ratification of same, which is a priority for this committee, but we have a lot of work to do in the meantime to try to make sure the basic services are available.

I thank the witnesses for coming. We had Mr. Ó Conaill, Mr. Brunell, Mr. Doran, Ms Fitzgerald, Ms Mannion, Mr. McLoughlin and Mr. Doody. I thank them for their time this morning and for the work they have done. From the presentations they gave this morning, we saw the sincerity of what they are trying to do. We look forward to continuing to work and engage with the witnesses directly on the issues that face our committee.

I thank the members who attended for their participation and work ethic on the job at hand. I thank our team, who are fantastic.