Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)

This almost returns to the point the Minister made in her previous reply with regard to the need to have an integrated approach. The point parents make is that they do not know where their voice is heard. An appeal against a decision of the National Council for Special Education is adjudicated by colleagues sitting at the next table and parents feel very aggrieved by this. Our system should always have checks and balances, and this issue affects some of the most vulnerable children in the State. If they are allocated a special needs assistant or resource hours, by definition they require additional support.

Is the Minister disposed to moving the order? What dialogue must happen with the Department of Education and Skills? Will it take a short period of time? In the answers to questions posed, by the Opposition in the main, on the number of special needs assistants we are told if a child requires a special needs assistant he or she will have access to one. However, a language gap exists because " access to" does not mean a dedicated special needs assistant. This is why much grievance exists and the parents are being lost in all of this.

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