Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the witnesses are here a long time at this stage. Deputy Canney mentioned the Irish language and I was going to raise that issue as well. Some 11% of post-primary pupils in 2021-22 were exempt from studying Irish. I recognise some of those students came to the country after the age of 11, but there would be some who are exempt because of additional learning needs. Deputy Canney also referred to the policy document that is with the Department and Minister at the moment. Are the witnesses familiar with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, CEFRL? It is a different way of looking at teaching and assessing a language. Instead of being based on the written, which would be difficult for somebody with a learning difficulty, it would be based on their oral. Whatever their proficiency, there would be a different assessment. Let us face it, the way the Irish language is taught in this country is disgraceful anyway. I went through 13 years of school but, excepting those who go to a Gaelscoil, most of us cannot speak the language. It needs to be revised, as our national language, to allow children with additional learning needs to learn some aspects of it, whether it is a little bit of the spoken language or whatever.

Parents of gifted children have been in touch with me. We have over 30,000 children who are gifted or exceptionally able in this country and there is no additional provision for them unless they have a learning difficulty as well. That ties in a little bit with children who have dyslexia, dyspraxia or dyscalculia. If their academic ability is above a certain percentile, they do not qualify for resources or assistive technology, even though it might be recommended by the assessment. That is unfair. These children are struggling. They might be very willing and interested in learning but it is difficult because they are not getting additional support to cope with their dyslexia. Parents tell me the child is masking at school. That goes for neurodiversity as well. They mask the fact they are not keeping up with their classmates but it takes a toll on them. Can that be changed? No matter your academic ability, if you have dyslexia or whatever it is, you deserve support.

Summer provision has not been mentioned. It is so important to the families and children with additional needs but it has reached the point that the children with most need are not getting the provision. The special schools and special classes parents group sent on testimony from parents about the effect this had on their children and families over the summer. Some families got no provision at all and it was a hectic eight, nine or ten weeks. Some got two or four weeks and they said it was brilliant but the remaining month of August was very difficult for them. There is significant funding allocated to summer provision but many schools are not willing to offer it. I was part of the autism committee and we tried to push this issue. We saw an increase in the uptake by schools but not all schools offer the full four weeks, or offer summer provision at all. Even some special schools do not offer it.