Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

The weighted system that the Minister claims she is reviewing was not to come into operation until September 2005. However, I have the impression that it is already partly in operation. Teachers, principals and parents inform me that children with special needs are being refused services on the grounds that the school is, for example, an all-girls' one with fewer resources. There appears to be much confusion in this area.

If a child is refused resources under either the weighted system or the existing one, what recourse does the child or his or her parents have to the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act and the National Council for Special Education? While the proposed weighted system will deal with mild disabilities, the Act has no specifications on mild or more severe educational disabilities. Children with milder disabilities are being refused resources under the so-called weighted system.

See this speech in context