Aisling Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)

I thank all the witnesses for being here and for their really informative opening statements. As a public representative and in my more important role as a mother, it is very difficult to hear their personal stories and those of the parents who fed into Ms Carmel O'Shea's report. It is particularly difficult for the parents. As was already said, as a new TD this room can be quite intimidating even on this side of it, when we are not sharing our personal information. It is fantastic that those present have done so. Ms Cahill mentioned the 60 refusals for her child. I am sure every one of them was a dagger to her heart. I probably do not have the right to say this but I feel that with her. I could not picture it. I have a little girl starting primary school next year and when I think of what she goes through as a parent, I commend her bravery and her strength. Regardless of what qualities they had as people before, they definitely have to have these qualities as parents of children with additional or special needs. The shame is that they have to fight every single day. I often find that when people come to me with kids who have special needs, they could ask for something that does not relate particularly to the child's immediate needs. I had a couple who wanted the path dropped outside their house to make the wheelchair access a little bit easier. I had to tell them that the council needed to licence it and spend huge money on it, and that was what broke them. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. I am getting off the topic now. I should be asking the witnesses questions but I wanted to really thank them for being here.

Ms O'Shea mentioned the irony of the removal of services when schools and the children with additional needs in them perform well. I have that exact situation in a school near Trim. Kilbride National School, which is renowned in the area for being an excellent school for children with additional needs, is constantly under threat of losing its supports because its reports are good. This is because the principal, every teacher, every SNA and everything is focused on those children. They are not just focused on the mainstream; they all take an active part in the kids with special needs. I do not know how to do it but how can that be addressed?

Mr. Clerkin mentioned school self-reporting. My understanding is that we have moved away from that and to a certain extent children's needs are now assessed not by the principal or the teachers but by the NCSE. Is that a grey area? Do some principals agree with it and some not agree?

I have one final question. Mr. Clerkin briefly mentioned working principals. In a way, it is probably related more to the wider context as opposed to just special education but is there a lobby or a campaign to move away from working or I should say teaching principals? That is really important. We do not ask our CEOs to be HR managers or administrators. A principal can guide a lot of this special education and how their teachers act but not if they are doing the jobs of many. I am after going way over, apologies.