Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil leis an gcuid is mó de na Teachtaí Dála a ghlac páirt sa díospóireacht seo. Díospóireacht dhearfach a bhí ann agus tá súil agam go gcabhróidh sí le brú a chur ar an Rialtas chun feabhas a chur ar an gcóras oideachais do dhaoine a bhfuil riachtanais speisialta oideachais acu.

On behalf of the Sinn Féin Deputies, I thank those Members who have contributed constructively to what has been a very useful debate. Sinn Féin's aim in tabling this motion was not to launch a broadside at the Government or the Minister or to seek party political advantage. I welcome the response in a similar spirit from the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Hanafin. All Members want to see results on this issue. As our education spokesperson, Deputy Crowe, stated, "The people concerned deserve all the attention and support the Oireachtas can devote to them."

The basis of the motion is the right of each individual pupil to have his or her special educational needs assessed and the right to the resources required to ensure each can reach his or her full potential. Nothing less is acceptable. We acknowledge progress has been made on the matter. However, the Minister also acknowledged it has been progress from a low base. What is being built up comes against a background where children with special needs have been scandalously neglected by the State. I pay tribute to the heroic parents and other carers of children and adults with special needs whose determination to demand and win their rights has been responsible for the progress made. Through their tenacity and the depth of their passion for their children's future, they forced the system to listen and to act.

There is, however, a huge amount of work left to be done. After years of neglect, we now see the full extent of the special needs among our children. A growing awareness is emerging that these children can reach their full potential and play a positive role in society. As a result, a growing demand for their rights and a growing expectation that those rights will be vindicated is also emerging.

The Minister for Education and Science addressed some concerns raised over the weighted system of delivery of special needs teachers announced last year. When she became Minister for Education and Science, she undertook an immediate review, reflecting the extent of concern and anger at the likely effect of the proposed system on many schools and individual pupils. I welcome the Minister's statement last night that the revised system will not be, as announced last year. I look forward to the announcement of the revised procedure promised in the coming weeks. I hope that all the concerns raised by all Members will be taken on board and acted upon. However, the clock is ticking if an improved system is to be implemented by the commencement of the new school year in September.

Even if the revised system of allocation addresses these concerns, it cannot succeed without greatly increased resources from the Government. The Minister noted her own responsibilities and those of the Minister for Health and Children in this regard. In her speech, she made the following striking observation:

In particular the Minister for Finance is obliged to have due regard to the State's duty to provide for an education appropriate to the needs of every child under the Constitution and the necessity to provide equity of treatment for all children.

I concur with the Minister and hope the Minister for Finance, Deputy Cowen, will note it carefully and act accordingly in his next budget.

The test of all this is delivery on the ground and in the classroom. The reality is large numbers of children are still not getting the support they need. Two years ago, I was contacted by the mother of a young boy with autism who went through a nightmare getting assistance for her son and her family. She struggled every step of the way to have her child properly assessed and to access the support he needed. Her experience made a mockery of the principle of early intervention. Despite her best efforts, the State completely failed to provide that early intervention. She simply asked that if she is doing the very best for her little boy, why the State is not doing likewise.

This mother, and other parents like her, must provide everything themselves. While she is lucky that her son is now in a special school for children with autism, many hundreds more are on waiting lists for these handful of schools. Their situation is uncertain as the Department regards the schools as pilot projects. They must rely predominantly on voluntary fund-raising and, therefore, cannot count on increased State funding in the future. I urge the Minister for Education and Science to give them the certainty they deserve and to support fully the mighty efforts of these parents and their children, some of whom are observing this debate from the Visitors Gallery this evening.

Only one school caters for children with special needs in counties Cavan and Monaghan, the Holy Family special school in Cootehill, County Cavan. It has long been in need of a major extension for existing school work to continue in a proper environment and to address the school's waiting list. It received verbal approval for access to temporary premises on an off-campus site. I strongly urge the Minister issue the required written confirmation for the temporary access and then to give full approval without further delay for the commencement of the essential works at the school site. These children and their support staff deserve nothing less. A Cheann Comhairle, I know of your long association with the school and I commend your work in supporting it.

Members on all sides of the House acknowledge the need for action in increasing the supply of occupational and speech therapists as the legislation cannot be implemented without it. Parents, whose children were assessed several years ago, inform me the situation is worse now because the waiting lists are longer and sufficient professionals are not in place. This must be addressed. We cannot tolerate a situation where so many parents must pay for psychological assessments for their special needs children or even go outside the State to access it.

I emphasise our call for the full implementation of the landmark 2001 report on the education of children with autism. Children with attention deficit disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are often highly intelligent but fail educationally when the system fails them. While some progress has been made at primary level, a large gap remains at secondary level. I know of cases where children who have come on by leaps and bounds in primary school have, all too sadly, reached a dead end at second level. I have heard a special unit at second level described as an adult crèche because the educational needs of the child are not being met. This raises the need for long-term plans for these children and for the training and retraining of teachers.

I pay tribute to my colleague, the former Minister for Education in the Northern Executive, Martin McGuinness, and the former Minister for Education, Deputy Woods, who jointly initiated a project to establish an all-Ireland centre for autism at Middletown, County Armagh. I have a letter dated 10 February from the Department of Education in the North which notes that it is unlikely that facility will be ready until autumn 2006. I appeal to the Minister for Education and Science to help speed up that project as the need is patently there.

I urge all Deputies to support the constructive motion tabled by the Sinn Féin Deputies. While I acknowledge the Minister's positive contribution, the Government amendment does not address the breadth of our motion and we cannot accept the Government's proposed deletion of those essential elements we have included.

As I stated at the outset, we all want to see results. This is an issue on which we can leave aside party political differences and work together in the interests of those very special children in our society.

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