Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)

Recently, I received a letter from the board of management, parents council, staff and principal of St. Ita's and St. Joseph's School, Balloonagh, Tralee, and I will read the contents of the letter into the record:

The Board of Management, Parents Council, staff and Principal of the above school are deeply concerned at the delay currently experienced by graduates from the school in being offered places for further education and training in the Kerry area. We regard this delay is as an unnecessary source of stress on the students and their parents; as this seems to be an annual problem we urge those involved to adequately fund the various service providers so that a seamless transition from school to further education and training can take place. As the number of students involved in the transition from school is generally low (10/12) we believe this issue should be addressed by the H.S.E. to avoid the stress, confusion and delay presently experienced by the students and their parents.

I also received an e-mail from concerned parents on behalf of their son which states: "Our son had been accepted for a place in Kerry Parents and Friends, Listowel. We went to the Kerry Parents and Friends AGM last week. The chief executive stated there was no funding for school leavers for 2009." It was also pointed out there was a shortfall of 1.4 million for the Kerry Cork area. The parents were subsequently told by the manager with responsibility for intellectual disability in the HSE south region that there were approximately 96 people with no placement for September. This is certainly a disgrace. The e-mail continues:

At this moment we do not know where James will be in September. This is quite stressful for us going into the summer. James had 12 wonderful years in Nano Nagle school, Listowel which come to an end at the end of June.

There is a feeling of powerlessness at this stage because it is not known what will happen to James in September. The three schools most affected are Nano Nagle special school, Listowel, St. Ita's and St. Joseph's school, Tralee, and St. Francis school in Beaufort. The service-providers taking children from these schools are Kerry Parents and Friends centres in Listowel and Killarney, the National Learning Network in Tralee, which is funded by FÁS and has only four places available this year, and St. John of God. A total of 34 referrals have come from those three schools alone. The schools cannot keep them once they reach 18 years. This means that 34 young people who are now 18 years will have to leave education.

As a former Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Hanafin will know that the students will regress if not placed in a training or educational situation. It also places significant stress on their families. The parents may both be out working or the parent at home may have to provide continuous care. The centres have no capacity due to cutbacks. There is no flexibility nor additional capacity to facilitate these students.

I am aware that we are here at 8.15 p.m. in the evening and this Adjournment matter may not have much impact but if the service-providers are not given the adequate funding they require, I ask that an exception be made for the special schools to allow them keep pupils who are over 18 years for an additional year. It could be referred to as a transitional year in which the students could undertake work experience and other activities. This might be one way of helping them to overcome this problem.

The age of 18 is the cut-off point in special schools and this is wrong, especially if there is no other placement for the students. Children in mainstream education can stay on longer. If this situation was repeated for children in mainstream education there would be an outcry but nobody seems to be concerned about these children, who are special children. The parents do not know where their children will be going in September and nobody seems to care. This is a significant issue of blatant discrimination between parents of special children and parents of children in mainstream education. I look forward to the Minister's reply.

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