Jerry Cowley (Mayo, Independent)

I refer to schools with leaking roofs, damp classrooms, poor sanitation, rotting doors and windows, inadequate toilet facilities and no access to drinking water. I am not referring to India or Africa but Ireland. A recent survey indicated that 80% of schools in the west do not have basic physical education facilities. Expenditure on education lags far behind the rest of Europe, with a recent development report placing Ireland 33rd of the top 50 nations. Primary class sizes average 24.5 pupils, the second highest figure in Europe.

The education system is failing many children on the margins. Every year more than 1,000 children fall through the net and do not reach secondary education. Our youngest children are educationally the most neglected in Europe, with access to early childhood education here the lowest in Europe. An estimated one in three children from disadvantaged areas suffers from literacy problems, while only 11% of 15 year olds in such areas are able to complete basic reading tasks.

These statistics apply to so-called able-bodied people. For those with special needs, however, for whom early intervention is the most crucial factor, we fail miserably. The waiting list for people with wheelchair disabilities in need of residential services is longer than at any time in the past 15 years, with thousands waiting for spaces. Due to the appalling lack of appropriate residential care, more than 450 people with learning disabilities live in psychiatric hospitals, an entirely unsuitable setting and a national disgrace.

Disabled people are the poor relations, including children with special needs such as autism, Asperger's syndrome and dyslexia. There are horror stories of people having to wait for months or years for assessment only to wait even longer for the services they are adjudged to need. Why is access to educational and other services not a right when it is obvious that early intervention is critical? If those who are assessed do not receive the services they need, what is the point of an assessment?

This debate is all about respect for the individual, honouring and respecting people under the Constitution and taking a holistic approach to the needs of all the children of the nation. The system should serve the people and must be reformed if it fails to do so in a manner which provides a semblance of equality and serves the weakest citizens of all, namely, disabled people and those, particularly children, with special needs. A cross-departmental approach is required in which all Departments examine how they can best help individuals. Each individual must have his or her needs addressed, irrespective of whether they are in health, education or other areas. Moreover, the necessary reforms should be backed by legislation. Without legislation, no aspiration will be realised.

The vigour evident in implementing the Health (Amendment) Acts should be matched in legislation to ensure that disabled people, particularly children with special needs, receive the services they need. We must not allow the Disability Bill to create conditions in which thousands of people who have received assessments must wait for services.

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