Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for the presentation and for the answers to the questions so far. I want to raise a number of issues.

My first question is on the special education teaching hours, which were put out there. In Galway, for example, 50% of the schools have lost hours, some have lost five hours, 20% have remained static, and 30% have gained some hours. Overall there is no change in the financial costs. This survey was done by the schools themselves by just checking around. The biggest problem with it is there seems to be a complete disconnect between what is required and what this new framework is delivering. It has become very complex and people do not understand what is happening. I raised it with the Taoiseach in the Dáil last week and he told me complex needs were part and parcel of the assessment. The circular from the Department says it is not. We need to be clear on this. Is it or is it not part of the assessment?

I am aware the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, is working with the building unit. A new special school opened in my town of Tuam about three years ago but it is at full capacity already. It is a fantastic school and at full capacity within three years. I do not know where the planning comes in in terms of looking at the future needs and being able to address that. Lakeview second level school in Galway is the only one of its kind in the county. It has a waiting list at the moment. I visited the school two weeks ago. A miracle is performed every day by the teaching staff and the principal there to deliver what they are delivering in the type of set-up they have. The building really should be demolished and a new building built but they are afraid to ask for it because they could end up having nothing for the next ten years. That is that.

The other big bone of contention we have, which was already mentioned by other members and by the witnesses, is that the children's disability network teams, CDNTs, are not doing their job and we are not getting the assessments. The parents are flying around the place from start to finish once they realise they have an issue, their child has a need or a special need, and the assessments are not happening. The whole thing becomes such a frenzy before they go to education and even in the preschool set-up. I had a case today of such an issue. We are trying to do something but at the end of the day we sometimes seem to make things worse rather than better. A new circular came from the Department a couple weeks ago and yet everyone is talking about doing a review of it now before the ink is even dry on it.

The then Minister, Deputy Joe McHugh, asked the National Council for Special Education to do a review of needs. It was presented to the Minister, Deputy Norma Foley, six years later in 2024 and all of a sudden what was published and what was to happen in schools is under review straightaway. I question all of that because we have too much of this going on with reviews, strategies and whatever else and we do not get enough delivery on the ground. We do a lot of talking about it and there are a lot of policy changes we must make to help the council but I am strongly of the view that we need to focus more on delivering services rather than producing paper after paper, reports and strategies. At the end of the day in my town of Tuam the children are not getting the service and their parents were out in the street protesting before Christmas. It is not on.