Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

I can give the Minister of State a list as long as my arm of people in his constituency and almost all other constituencies who would be willing to work as classroom assistants. If the Minister of State's problem is that he cannot fill such positions, he can send me the prospectus and I will do it for him.

Ireland presents itself at airports and other points of entry as the home of bright and educated young people. We pride ourselves on producing such people. It is true, in many ways, that we cherish approximately 80% of our children, but I estimate that 20% of children fall through the system in one way or another. They suffer from many problems, including disadvantage, learning difficulties, problems of assessment, a lack of resources and a shortage of special needs assistants. The proportion of children who need intervention because of such schooling problems is not decreasing. The mechanisms, resources and structures necessary to deal with such difficulties are not in place. The Minister's list of statistics relating to professional personnel, for example, reads well on paper, but the system as a whole is not being held together.

The Breaking the Cycle programme has been the only bright light in the education system in the past ten years. The programme did not offer a professional intervention to those with special needs, for example, but instead provided a preferential pupil-teacher ratio in the areas of greatest disadvantage. A difference was made because individual attention was given to children for the first time. Individual attention is often the answer to the problems of those with special educational needs. Slower pupils can be helped to make quicker progress, troublesome students can be given attention and those who find it difficult to operate in mainstream education can be given assistance. Such possibilities have been lost because they have not been followed up. Resources and support have been offered in such areas, including CE schemes, but they can be easily lost.

I am not aware of any school in my constituency which does not have difficulties in getting assessments, teaching assistants and psychologists. Many schools have to turn to the private sector to organise psychological assessments because few psychologists are employed by the Department of Education and Science. Has the Minister assessed the extent of the need? Has she made provisions to meet that need within the Department? The principals of many schools are trying to get money from various sectors to buy into private assessment because it cannot be provided by the Department. I did not see any reference to such problems in the Minister's speech. She spoke about the weighted model and forgoing the need for individual assessment. I cannot see how that will work because one cannot have collective assessment. Each individual pupil has individual needs. I will wait to see what will happen.

A neglected child will become a problem child. All Members are aware that many children end up before the courts. There have been some terrible fatalities in recent times. Newspapers have reported that the youngsters in question had many special needs. Although I have not read their life stories, I presume their problems were not addressed. Youngsters can become dysfunctional very quickly in such circumstances, as we know, leading to crime in many cases. The average reading age of those in St. Patrick's Institution, which caters for youngsters between the ages of 17 and 21, is 12. It is clear that many people are falling through the system. The educational system has fallen short of addressing the needs of those who are borderline in so many areas. It is one of the problems faced by society at present. Many people are experiencing anxiety, fear and insecurity as a result. People are demanding harsher measures to deal with youngsters whose needs, especially their educational and social needs, were not met at an earlier age.

I would like to refer to the Phoenix Centre, a learning project established in my constituency seven years ago as a joint venture of the Department of Education and Science's special education unit and the local drugs task force. The centre catered for ten children who could not operate in mainstream schools, who were at risk of becoming involved in drugs, alcohol and petty crime and who had other special needs. When a problem emerged this summer involving its director, it was decided to close the school down because the problem could not be managed in any other way. The ten children in question, who were doing very well, have lost two months' education because the centre has not been reopened. I know the children and their teachers. I am aware that at least another ten youngsters have been identified as having the potential to benefit from such an outreach school, which addresses the special needs of youngsters who do not fall into mainstream categories. I ask the Minister to examine this specific case. The youngsters in question, who are not in the primary sector because they are between 13 and 17 years of age, have fallen through the net.

A great deal of work remains to be done. There is no evidence of an holistic approach. I am glad there has been a move towards giving greater resources to individual schools so they can address the needs of their pupils. It is appropriate that parents should be entitled to enforce their children's right to have their special needs requirements met. I hope the new measures will work, but I have not seen any sign of their success to date. The Minister has to do a great deal of work in the next two or two and a half years before there is a change of Government.

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