Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion and I genuinely thank the Technical Group for dedicating their Private Members' time to the important issue of special needs education. While the issues we discuss in this House every day are important, this motion is of real and genuine significance to me, as I became involved in politics through the issue of special needs. When a relative of mine was diagnosed with special educational needs, I became frustrated, like so many family members throughout the country, with the lack of services and supports available despite the great wealth in our country at the time. I established an autism charity to endeavour to highlight these issues and to support families living with autism.

One of the biggest failings of our country during the Celtic tiger era was the way in which families and children with special needs were still overlooked in so many areas. Parents of children with special needs, who already had their hands full trying to care for their children, found themselves obliged to go cap in hand to the State for the supports their children needed, despite the amount of money that was being wasted on electronic voting machines, Bertie Bowls and all the rest. I will not be engaging in party political remarks on this matter. There is a time and a place for that, but this issue is far too important to me. I am only sorry that this country finds itself in such an economic position that all my political desires, aims and objectives for special needs education cannot be implemented as quickly as I would desire. Crucially, however, that does not take away from the responsibility of the Government to outline its vision for special needs education and to work tirelessly to ensure children with special educational needs are supported.

Considering the climate in which this debate takes place, the Government amendment before the House is progressive, constructive and factual. It sends a message to parents of children with special needs that we will continue to prioritise the needs of their children, and outlines how the Government is fulfilling its commitment to prioritise this area in a number of ways, some of which the Minister of State alluded to: by providing an exemption from the moratorium on recruitment in the public sector for SNA posts and resource teaching posts; by ensuring that the number of resource teachers for children with special needs in mainstream schools will be at its highest level in the history of the State, with 315 more posts in our schools this September; by guaranteeing that there will be more SNA posts in our schools this coming school year than in 2010 or, indeed, any other year; and, crucially, by reforming the way in which posts are allocated by holding back a reserve of both SNA posts and resource teaching posts until September in order that children whose needs become apparent only in the new school year can avail of such supports. In this way we can provide parents who are not satisfied with the level of support their children have been afforded a right of appeal. For far too long, parents who have sought help in September have found that the cupboard is bare. I welcome the remarks of the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn, in this regard.

I want to send out a clear message to the Government and to the Department of Education and Skills that we must do better when it comes to communicating with parents of children with special needs. All too often over the years, and indeed in recent weeks, parents have been left worried, panicked and stressed as they read media reports and departmental circulars. For example, the announcement about resource teaching was simply botched. What should have been a good news story - additional resource teaching posts - was reported in the media as a 10% cut, but that was not the case. We as politicians, as a Government and as the Oireachtas, along with our colleagues and friends in the media, must ensure information is conveyed to parents factually and quickly.

While the Government is bound by the cap on SNAs, we now have an opportunity to outline our plan and vision for special needs education in the future. Gone must be the days of the State dragging parents of children with special needs through the courts system. Gone must be the days of mothballing important legislation affecting special educational needs as soon as the country hits rocky waters. The new Government must produce a realistic timeframe for the implementation of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act as quickly as possible. I welcome the comments of the Minister of State in this regard.

We must also look to our European colleagues and learn from how they provide for children with special educational needs. I agree with the comments of Deputy Daly in this regard; the UK model of teaching assistants merits consideration. In addition, the Minister must address the difficulty of accessing psychological services and obtaining diagnoses. I welcome the commitment to reverse the cap on National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, assessments.

As a Deputy, I will continue to work as hard as I possibly can to support people with special educational needs. I will work with Deputies on all sides of this House to make progress on this issue. Nobody, least of all me, finds any cut to special needs education palatable, but from my conversations with the Taoiseach, the Minister for Education and Skills and many stakeholders, parents included, I am satisfied that in keeping with this legally binding cap, we are doing all that we possibly can to support children with special educational needs. We can never do enough in this area. We will always need to do more and we must always strive to do better.

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