Seán Connick (Wexford, Fianna Fail)

Deputy Brian Hayes might learn from such an approach.

A very interesting book, Pupils with Learning Difficulties in Mainstream Schools, was published in Britain a number of years ago. The first paragraph of the book was written by a woman called Mabel who was then in her 50s. She was born with learning difficulties and because of her age she grew up in a system that isolated her from the rest of society. Looking back on her young days she wrote:

For people like me and a lot more you know, people were frightened of us. If people are different, then other people get frightened. I still see it. People are frightened of people like me, and a lot more, because we are different.

The basis of an inclusive educational system is to stop treating people such as Mabel as being different, to start treating them as being equal with their peers and to remove any barriers of fear or ignorance that other people might have in respect of them. Educating children with mild learning difficulties in a mainstream classroom environment will help to remove these barriers, increase their confidence and self-belief and greatly increase their interaction with their peers.

I support the Minister in his efforts to create an inclusive learning environment for children with learning difficulties and I acknowledge the substantial increases in funding for special needs education he has, despite the current economic circumstances, secured. I fully support him and the amendment to the motion.

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