John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I am pleased to make a contribution to the debate. I commend Deputy Brian Hayes for bringing the motion forward at this time, which is appropriate as schools around the country are getting the result of the reviews on their special needs allocation and feeling the effects of the cutbacks. We heard at first hand in committee in recent weeks the harrowing stories of mainstream and special schools whose allocations have been cut drastically. Not only that, but the changes have to be implemented in the middle of the school year. Never before, even in the harshest of economic times, have teachers been taken away from pupils in the middle of the school year.

The Government amendment before us tells us that the criteria of the Department have not changed. If that is the case and all of the schools were reviewed less than a year ago when the present allocations were deemed appropriate, prior to the recent announcements, how could so many schools have lost so many posts? Members on all sides of the House are aware of such schools. It is difficult to come to any other conclusion than the fact that the purpose of the review was merely to cut numbers and to save money. As many of my colleagues have indicated, the review was ill thought out and no appeals process was in place until the review was half finished. There is no independent appeals board. The body that makes the initial judgments also adjudicates on appeals.

St. Anthony's special school in Castlebar will lose three special needs assistants under the review that has recently been carried out. Along with my fellow Deputies on both sides of the House I have attended meetings with parents, staff and children where we heard harrowing stories of the effects of the proposed reduction in the allocation of special needs assistants. Everyone acknowledged the progress the children had made in recent years and explained that to lose their special needs assistants now in the middle of a school term would do irreparable damage to the future of the most vulnerable in our society. Deputy Flynn has rightly acknowledged and articulated the need for the reversal of the cuts at St. Anthony's and has reinforced those arguments at a recent meeting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Science. I hope that she, with the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, considers that carefully when they casts their votes on the motion tonight.

It is ironic that the motion comes the day after this House voted billions for the recapitalisation of the banking system. The Government has rammed through megabucks to cover for the mistakes and greed of the most powerful and reckless people in society. Will the Government and its Deputies deprive the weakest, most vulnerable children in society who cannot speak for themselves when it would only cost a fraction of what was gifted to our most powerful last night?

I wish the new Minister well in her post. I appeal to her to bring fresh thinking to the area. This is an issue that transcends party politics. Progress has been made in recent years and the cuts will destroy that progress. We will not be forgiven if we do not shout "Stop" now.

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