Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

While this is no reflection on the Minister of State present, as has been raised in the Chamber previously, it is wholly inappropriate that the Minister for Education and Skills, or at least a Minister of State at that Department, is not here. I have had this issue down for debate as a Topical Issue matter for the past two weeks. It was only selected today and I am very glad it has been selected. However, the Minister for Education and Skills or someone from his Department should be here to answer the questions on this very serious issue that affects many children with Down's syndrome.

I commend the Down Syndrome Education Equality Advocates, representing parents of children with Down's syndrome, which has firmly placed this issue on the political agenda. If we look over history, I find it disturbing and saddening that parents of children with special needs or disabilities have to argue and fight continually for the rights of their children. I hope that soon it will no longer be necessary and parents and children will have their rights enshrined as a matter of course. I have been in regular contact with parents of children with Down's syndrome and some of them have become experts in the area. One person from the Donegal Down's Syndrome Association, Gina Grant, has given me international research evidence from Australia, the United States, Britain and other places.

The Minister of State may be aware that Down's syndrome is a low-incidence disability that affects 0.2% of the population in the State, but it does not appear on the list of low-incidence disabilities in the Department's 2005 circular. Being on this list would entitle the children with Down's syndrome and a mild learning disability to avail of resource teaching. However, in 2005, the then Minister for Education and Science decided to end that practice, taking away that right for automatic resource hours teaching for these children. The list of 11 makes specific speech and language disability one of those specified low incidence disabilities. However, to avail of resource hours under these criteria, a child's IQ must be average or higher. All children with Down's syndrome have a specific speech and learning disorder but do not qualify because they do not have an average IQ. International research clearly indicates that children with Down's syndrome with a mild learning disability often have speech and language delay over and above what would be expected with mild learning disability, resulting in problems with articulation, comprehension, expression and learning grammar. Thinking and reasoning skills are also affected. Speech and language delays affect access to all areas of the curriculum, not just language tasks.

While it did not happen during the term of this Government, a previous Administration in 2005 did a terrible injustice to children with Down's syndrome when the automatic right to resource teaching was taken from them. Unfortunately, many children with Down's syndrome have gone through the mainstream education system and had that resource denied to them.

I wish to articulate the feelings of those who work with children with Down's syndrome who can put it better than I can. A letter from a resource teacher in a school in Donegal states:

Frequently, a child with Down Syndrome may score just above the cut off point for resource hours and be denied this vital intervention.

Consider if you will, an infant with Downs in our school at the moment, whose overall intellectual ability is at the first percentile. His needs span the entire Downs range, from language, motor, social, academic and care needs. This child shares an S.N.A. with two other highly compromised children in his class, both with special needs. Add to that the daily demands of his other infant classmates and you can begin to imagine the uphill battle he faces daily. His report cited the absolute need for "individual resource tuition", but this was not granted. As a result, we have had to accommodate him in an already oversubscribed support system. This is an injustice, primarily to the child and secondly, to those who attempt to meet his needs on a daily basis.

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