Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Conor Lenihan, to the House. As usual, he will have a standard response.

It is important to outline the seriousness of the withdrawal of special educational needs services in County Donegal. I am trying, with great difficulty, to get to the bottom of it. A major barrier is that neither the Department of Education and Science nor the Department of Health and Children is willing to take responsibility. The Opposition has spoken at length about its objection to quangos. The National Council for Special Education is a quango and is not taking responsibility for the withdrawal of services for children with special educational needs.

The children to whom I refer, whose needs might arise from having asthma, ADHD, Down's syndrome, spina bifida, Asperger's syndrome or autism, require the services in question. They are the most vulnerable people in society, but they are being ignored and neglected. Let me give an example. Carndonagh secondary school, formerly the largest secondary school in the country, had six special needs assistants last year but that number is to be reduced to three this year. The children who need the assistants are still at school and, moreover, three extra children are now enrolled there.

Over 300 parents and teachers and other concerned individuals met publicly in Ballyliffin in north Inishowen last Monday night to articulate the serious need for services for the children with special educational needs. The services were put in place last year but are to be withdrawn in September. I am talking parochially but the quango that is the NCSE, the Department of Education and Science or the Department of Health and Children need to state why the children are being discriminated against and why parents are being left in limbo regarding whether their children will be able go to school in September.

Yesterday, a parent drove from Letterkenny to Dublin. I told her I would meet her tonight or that I would meet her in Letterkenny on Friday. However, she replied that her ten year old daughter, who has spina bifida and is in a wheelchair, has had her hours slashed and the situation was so serious that she will not be sending her child to school in September. It is ironic that the Minister of State with responsibility for integration is present. While that is a completely different portfolio, this pertains to the integration of children with special educational needs into mainstream classrooms. However, funding is being slashed and special needs assistants are being withdrawn from such schools.

I have great difficulty in getting to the bottom of this issue and together with parents in my constituency, I need to know the reason such services are being withdrawn. More specifically, why is no one answerable or accountable for such decisions? I raised this matter this evening to ascertain the terms of reference of the special education needs organiser and the identity of whoever drew them up. Moreover, where do accountability and responsibility lie? I would welcome a deviation on the part of the Minister of State from his prepared departmental script and would appreciate it, were he in a position to indicate to the House a way forward for the most vulnerable.

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