Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)

I am pleased to have an opportunity to speak to this excellent motion on special needs education and the broader issue of all children with disabilities. While I welcome the debate, I believe we have had enough debate and it is now time to fucus on the needs of the children and provide services on the ground. I fully recognise that progress has been made in regard to some services, but that does not mean we should take our eye off the ball and ignore the reality of children in this State without services or adequate back-up.

Last week, a young mother of a child with autism contacted me about her reality. There was no place for her child who wanted to commence school. First, she was told there was no place and when she visited a particular school she was told there was a long waiting list. She then contacted me and I made representations to the Department of Education and Science. I am also making representations to the Minister on the case. The Department is now working on the case to try to assist that young family. However, that is not the point. It is unacceptable that a young family with a child with a disability must walk the streets looking for a place for their child, or contact a Deputy to get a place. It is a disgrace and shame in 2005. It is also blatant discrimination. It is a reminder to the Government that rights-based legislation in regard to disabilities is the way forward. It is no longer acceptable in a wealthy country to have children with disabilities on waiting lists. This scandal and crime must end now.

I support strongly sections 3, 4, 6 and 7 of the motion, which offer a solution to the issue. I urge the Government to ensure there is further progress in delivery of promised improvements, including allocation of the resources required to meet the special needs and equal rights of all pupils and to reduce the pupil-teacher ratio in primary schools. I also raise the widespread concern among parents, teachers and principals that the proposed weighted system of allocation of special needs teachers to schools would, in practice, be a quota system which would result in the loss of teachers to many schools, particularly in disadvantaged and rural areas, and the loss of support to many pupils with special needs.

I acknowledge the statement from the Minister that she wishes to see a system introduced that would not result in the loss of services to any child. I commend her for that statement earlier. I now call on her to conclude immediately her Department's review of the proposed weighted system, to publish the outcome of the review and to initiate a revised and improved system for deployment of special needs teachers as soon as possible. I urge that such a deployment of teachers be based on the rights of each individual pupil to have his or her special educational needs assessed and on the right of each pupil to the resources required to ensure that each can reach his or her full potential. These are all sensible proposals in the motion and I call on all Deputies in the House to support the pupils, teachers and parents.

On the issue of the courts in section 2 of the motion, as a parent of a child with a disability, I find it insulting and degrading when I see other parents forced to go to the courts to get a service. This should not be happening, especially with the passage of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Bill 2004. Parents of children with disabilities have enough on their plate besides having to go to court and all the hassle that entails. The simple solution is that all children with special needs get a service as a right. For those who have not woken up, this is all part of the equality agenda and we need to quickly get on with it. We need the Minister to quickly move to recruit the additional 650 teachers needed to implement the programme of improved education for persons with special needs.

There seems to be much confusion, bureaucracy and delays in assisting children with special needs. These genuine complaints must be dealt with head on because the children are losing out. One school I know of was granted 1.6 resource teachers but this allocation is being delayed by the Department. Children are losing out and these delays in the provision of a service are not good enough. People are forced to jump through major hoops and obstacles and the fact that the IQ must be below 55 excludes thousands of pupils. There is no automatic entitlements for some children with special needs. I am concerned about provision for children with dyslexia. I urge the Minister to act on these complaints. Teachers are being dragged all over the place, meeting various agencies and dealing with bureaucracy when they need to be in the classroom with the pupils. I urge the Minister to listen to parents, the views of teachers and those in the schools trying to provide the service.

I thank and pay tribute to the many teachers working in this field. They deserve our support and deserve action from the Department of Education and Science. We have had enough talk. We should get back to basics and let teachers get on with teaching.

I wish to raise the major crisis of the lack of speech therapists and occupational therapists. This shortage of such personnel must be dealt with. I urge Members to support this motion. It is about children, assisting teachers, education, providing a quality educational service for all our pupils and, above all, giving our children a chance to go forward in the future. I urge all Members to support this motion.

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