Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)

I too compliment the Technical Group on the work it has put into researching this motion and putting it before the House. I also compliment it and all our colleagues on their work in meeting the families of children with special educational needs. I hope the Government will pay heed to what is being said this evening.

Only a very short time ago Deputy Brian Hayes, who is now a Minister of State, placed a motion before the House condemning all and sundry on this issue. I was on the other side of the House at the time. Deputy Hayes was vocally supported by all Opposition Deputies, including the Minister of State who is present this evening, Deputy Seán Sherlock.

I mean no personal disrespect to Deputy Sherlock when I say I cannot believe the turn-around and the sheer audacity of the U-turns performed by the Government, especially with regard to children with special needs. We heard today of a similar U-turn on the hospital service in Roscommon and of the promises that were made. We all know them. Senator Phil Prendergast and Deputy Tom Hayes used to attack me on a weekly basis for my support of the Government. There was attack after attack. The public, and especially the families and communities of children with special needs, are now totally dismayed. The Government is undermining the body politic by its blatant actions a mere three months after voting to demand that all kinds of services be retained and that extra services be put in place.

The motion moved by the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, when he was a member of the Opposition also demanded lighter regulation and ease of access to the psychological service. However, Deputy Brian Hayes and his colleagues have moved across the floor of the House, changed their clothes and are implementing those very policies that will support the fat cats of society and bankers, the bank robbers who robbed from within. These bank robbers did not come into the banks with guns. They robbed from within. The Government is protecting speculators and all the people who brought us into the current mess but not the unfortunate families who are doing their best.

Reports from the OECD and other bodies have highlighted illiteracy problems in our adult population. Other speakers have referred to the value of investing in the education of children, and especially of children with special needs, at an early age. Earlier today, I heard the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs answer parliamentary questions. I complimented her on her ambition to retain early childhood supports. It beggars belief, therefore, that the Government, without even frowning, is to vote against this evening's motion. Deputy Tom Hayes and Senator Phil Prendergast made scurrilous attacks on me and simply walked away. Senator Prendergast has gone to Europe and Deputy Hayes is here in the Dáil voting to cut essential services.

The motion of last February called for political leadership. I call on the Deputies who supported it, and who now support the Government, to find their consciences, their backbones and their decency and not deprive those children about whom they were so concerned at that time. Or were they merely concerned about getting the highest vote possible and the highest number of seats? Is this what politics has become? If so, it is very unfortunate. I also sat on committees with the Minister of State and I accepted his passion and commitment for the underprivileged but I do not know how he and his party can accept this. Parents cannot get assessments for their children unless they have the wherewithal to pay for them. Following approval, it could take a year or two before an SNA post is sanctioned. They have to fight and continuously lobby for the post. With the stroke of a pen in some office, the SNA can be removed and that can have serious implications for the other students in the classroom.

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