Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I commend Deputy Finian McGrath on bringing forward this legislation. There is not a family in the country that does not have somebody in the family who has Down's syndrome or who has a family friend who has had experience of it. When we are considering where we are today and what we want to achieve it is no harm to look back to see where we were 40 or 50 years ago. Looking back only to the 1960s people with Down's syndrome were almost automatically institutionalised with society shunning them and rejecting them because they were different. Being different in Irish society is not something that goes down very well. We can see that from the recent debate about comments on a television programme. We still have some way to go to be inclusive of people who are different in our society. Back in the 1960s many parents who loved their child felt they were protecting them in hiding them away rather than exposing them to what they saw to be the cruelty of the outside world and the bullying that they may have experienced.

When Inclusion Ireland was founded in 1961 it began to turn the tide of the way people were thinking. At that time consideration was not given to the fact that people could read, write and contribute to society. Of course, now we know so much more. The expectations were very low at that point. Considering putting children with Down's syndrome into mainstream education would not have been considered. The schools would have been seen as not being capable of dealing with them and also the school authorities might have felt that it would be detrimental to their reputation.

Thankfully, today mainstream education is available to all children with Down's syndrome. They can go through the education system, through colleges and expect to live long, productive and fulfilling lives for themselves. Having an inclusive education not only has excellent outcomes for the children with special educational needs but also for the children who do not have special educational needs. That has come across very clearly to me from speaking to the parents of children who have Down's syndrome and other disabilities but also from parents of children who do not. They find that it broadens the thinking of the child who does not have those needs and it makes them much more inclusive and considerate children, recognising that there are other people who are not the same as themselves in life. Now thankfully through being able to access mainstream education people with Down's syndrome can enjoy life.

We see this in the number of them living with a certain degree of independence, in employment and participating in, for example, events such as the Special Olympics. While this is fantastic, it must not be forgotten that they will need ongoing support from family, friends and services. It is also key that they can access education. If they do, so much more will be available to them.

The purpose of this Bill is to ensure recognition of Down's syndrome in its entirety, which I welcome. I also welcome the Minister of State's clarification in regard to low-incidence disabilities, which is an issue of great concern for parents who want individual resource teaching to be automatically provided to their children. It is important to recognise the excellent work being done by the agencies in this area. All of these agencies working together, as happened for the Special Olympics, will be of tremendous benefit to all concerned. This Government is caring and wants to ensure that every citizen in this country benefits from investment. The increased investment in disability services to date is good news.

I spoke recently to a parent who told me that when his child was born 35 years ago he and his wife thought it was the end of their world, but in fact it was the beginning of it. Through their lovely child their lives have been enhanced, and the fact that their child has been able to participate fully in life has meant everything to them.

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