Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

-----but they accept that for every child it simply does not work. The Government wants to promote integration. That is not something new. It is something we all support but the two special classes to which I refer, and I have been in both classes, are not a sterile unit outside the building to which the rest of the children have no access. They are very much part and parcel of the whole environment of the school and the children attending those special classes are part of that. They are not isolated. They are not as they were when we were in school when the attitude in terms of the way they were treated was completely different.

The principal of the boys school stated, "It is a safe and rich environment within the larger school giving all types of opportunities for children throughout the school to live, learn and experience each other's lives in an atmosphere of inclusiveness and equality". That is what is happening.

There are seven pupils requiring special classes in the girls school and for those seven pupils there is only one special needs assistant. She will now be asked to deal with those seven pupils in seven different classrooms in four separate buildings on the one school campus. It is not possible for her to be able to give that level of attention to those children.

The general model did not work. I will outline to the House some examples of parents who contacted me about their children. One mother explained that her son had an SNA and one resource hour per day in his former school. The system was tried and failed him. In fact, he was threatened with expulsion because the situation was not managed. He is only in his new class in Birr since January and he has not had any problems. Until then, mixing with other children was alien to him. She now sees him mixing, partaking and socialising which would not have happened previously. Last week he participated in "Pinocchio", in Birr Theatre & Arts Centre, which he would not have had the opportunity to do previously. She said it is real, meaningful participation. His life has been transformed.

When I contacted another father last night he told me his daughter was in school for three years. People have asked me to speak from the heart and I will quote this parent. He told me last night that if his daughter is put back into a regular class, the Government may as well put her in the River Shannon. He was deeply upset when he said that about his daughter but that is the reality because he has tried, she has tried and it did not work. When she was in the other class, which had 38 children, she was utterly lost. She cried every morning before school and hid under a bench in the classroom. She is only in her class in Birr since September. She is the first up in the house every morning and loves going to school. He said that as it is, they worry about her every day that she will get somewhere. They will not put her back into a mainstream class because regardless of the law, they will take her out of school. They will not put her through that again.

Another constituent who was in contact by letter with the Taoiseach stated:

Returning to mainstream is not an option for our daughter. Since the announcement she has not slept at night, is crying all of the time and just not able to cope. She knows what it means returning to mainstream, being left behind once again. She had a terrible time, was picked on by other children, was called names. Not being able to keep up she felt completely useless.

I ask the Minister, Deputy O'Keeffe, and the Government to consider the plight of these children. They are not a political football. They are real children.

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